41 Action News fielded more complaints about The Cedars Apartments in Independence.
Following our report Tuesday on a mother who complained about mice, other tenants wrote in alleging similar issues with the management company.
Tenant Emily Bennett has lived in a unit at CedarRidge for four years.
Her biggest concern is the possibility of mold, rotting wood, and at one time, rodents.
“We pay you this money to live here. This is where we live, where we come home to sleep,” she explained. “How would you feel at night if you came home to sleep and you had these issues?"
Bennett has reached out to management repeatedly, but feels she’s being ignored.
“We constantly call and give them work orders and they go missing, then we call back it’s like, ‘I'm sorry new management,’” she said. “We're doing things differently and that's fine, but it’s like when are we going to see repairs done? When are going to see our buildings taken care of?”
41 Action News followed up with the management team in person and via e-mail.
Regional Manager Kristin Miller wrote:
“Regarding our managing tactics, we handle all resident concerns as we are notified of them in a professional and timely manner. It is crucial for management and residents to keep open lines of communication and is vital for the resident to cooperate with management to find resolutions to issues that do come up during their tenancy. We strive to provide superior customer service and are willing to do everything we can to accommodate all of our residents while following all Fair Housing practices.”
The City of Independence has not had any complaints about CedarRidge or CedarBrooke. The city will only get involved if it receives a formal complaint, but that is about to change.
On June 1, Independence is launching the Rental Ready Program. It will require all rental properties to obtain a license from the city and be inspected every two years.
Bennett is locked in her lease but hopes a change will come quickly.
“It's just really upsetting, you know, we live here."
