Some renters in Beachwood say they aren’t getting what they pay for in The Vue, which they say is billed as a luxury apartment building.
The Vue apartments have been dealing with fire alarms and flooding in some units since the weekend. Frigid cold temperatures caused fire sprinkler lines to freeze, then break, damaging apartments and some amenities.
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False fire alarms, limited help with excessive flooding leave residents at The Vue frustrated
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Residents have been telling News 5 over the past three days they’re having trouble getting anyone from Stark Enterprises or Comet Management, who run the building, to give them anything more than canned apologizes and there hasn’t been any talk about how to compensate renters for damage.
“This is probably the premier location here in this area and we would expect to be treated in such a manner that would be compliant with where we’re living,” said tenant Phillip Williams.
One lease agreement sent to News 5 puts rent at nearly $3,000 a month. In the building is a two-story gym, shown in a picture on the apartment website.
A more recent picture shows water on the ground between pieces of equipment and residents tell us the gym is closed now because of damage.
Even before all this, those residents say The Vue was slow to fix the elevator or garage door while they waited for parts.
“With great expectations comes great responsibility on behalf of the landlord to make sure he satisfies those people,” said lawyer Philip Fine.
Fine says for tenants to fight back, they need to document every complaint, especially if they want to challenge their landlord to get out of their lease or withhold rent.
Promises don’t cut it.
“They rely upon oral representations which aren’t worth the paper they’re written on because they aren’t written on paper,” said Fine.
The sign on the side of Stark Enterprises’ Downtown office says “It’s all about the experience.”
News 5 has been reaching out to Stark Enterprises all week. So far we've gotten one emailed response Monday, saying that they’re trying to get repair work done inside.
