SLUMLORD WARNING!! I wish I had known the following about the owner, Eddie Shvartzman, prior to moving into the slum at Creek View Apartments, Alabama Ave., Fountain CO 80817:
Does not respond to billing questions—especially when he has made an error—3 letters for explanation of excessive utilities charges apparently not based on individual use and square footage per the manager, Leslie Olson.
Does not respond to maintenance requests—the manager whines about having to pay out of her own pocket until tenants just give up and try to make the repairs themselves (she lives rent free in exchange for maintenance and management duties); the owner just ignores maintenance requests without the whining but the result is the same—rundown, leaky pipes, mold in the walls, etc. I was left without a functioning toilet for five days because they both ignored my text (with photo of the damage), it was halfway repaired only after Code Enforcement arrived to inspect the apartment.
Does not listen to or respect tenants—the main water line backed up sewer into the bathtubs and toilets on the first floor the morning after Thanksgiving. The owner finally showed up around noon. At around 7pm as the owner was leaving after getting an estimate from a plumber I told the owner the water had been turned back on; he said it was off and left. No notices of the problem were posted, no one was notified of the back up, and the water had been turned on so as people returned home and started showers and dinner, the first floor flooded again. A tenant had told the owner that her bed had been ruined by the sewer that overflowed her tub; the owner told her it would dry. This is the attitude toward tenants that earns the moniker slumlord.
Does not pay contractors—both owner and manager call them prima donnas because their rates are higher than they think a contractor deserves. You get what you pay for hence the slum condition of the entire building.
Does not have a competent manager—owner says the manager gets “confused.” How is it good business to leave someone like that in charge of management and maintenance?
Allows tenants to fall three months or more behind in paying rent; unless the tenant has reported maintenance problems to Code Enforcement, then it’s late fee city and harassment for the trouble making tenant including gossiping to other tenants and city officials.
Charges huge fees for utilities that are not based on a monthly bill from service providers—the owner will not explain how he arrives at over $100 per month for a one-bedroom apartment, $70 per month for an efficiency, and $150 per month for a two-bedroom. The dollar amount for my apartment has been exactly the same down to the penny for three months. The manager stated the utilities were calculated by square footage and use but that cannot be true given the billed amount.
According to the Attorney General, all businesses operating in Colorado are required to be registered with the Secretary of State; the business entity that rent payments are made to is ESP LLC and it does not exist in the state of Colorado. I could not find the owner’s business entity, ESP LLC, registered with the Secretary of State or any reference to ESP LLC related to rental property or management of any property but we are required to submit rent payment to ESP LLC. If a business lacks the ethics to register with the state or to follow health and safety codes or respond to maintenance issues, reconsider whether you have the time and money to waste on a business built to rip you off. Keep in mind renters in Colorado have no legal remedies under the law; you will end up leaving the property one way or another so why waste your money.
Creek View Apartments Reviews
SLUMLORD WARNING!! I wish I had known the following about the owner, Eddie Shvartzman, prior to moving into the slum at Creek View Apartments, Alabama Ave., Fountain CO 80817:
Does not respond to billing questions—especially when he has made an error—3 letters for explanation of excessive utilities charges apparently not based on individual use and square footage per the manager, Leslie Olson.
Does not respond to maintenance requests—the manager whines about having to pay out of her own pocket until tenants just give up and try to make the repairs themselves (she lives rent free in exchange for maintenance and management duties); the owner just ignores maintenance requests without the whining but the result is the same—rundown, leaky pipes, mold in the walls, etc. I was left without a functioning toilet for five days because they both ignored my text (with photo of the damage), it was halfway repaired only after Code Enforcement arrived to inspect the apartment.
Does not listen to or respect tenants—the main water line backed up sewer into the bathtubs and toilets on the first floor the morning after Thanksgiving. The owner finally showed up around noon. At around 7pm as the owner was leaving after getting an estimate from a plumber I told the owner the water had been turned back on; he said it was off and left. No notices of the problem were posted, no one was notified of the back up, and the water had been turned on so as people returned home and started showers and dinner, the first floor flooded again. A tenant had told the owner that her bed had been ruined by the sewer that overflowed her tub; the owner told her it would dry. This is the attitude toward tenants that earns the moniker slumlord.
Does not pay contractors—both owner and manager call them prima donnas because their rates are higher than they think a contractor deserves. You get what you pay for hence the slum condition of the entire building.
Does not have a competent manager—owner says the manager gets “confused.” How is it good business to leave someone like that in charge of management and maintenance?
Allows tenants to fall three months or more behind in paying rent; unless the tenant has reported maintenance problems to Code Enforcement, then it’s late fee city and harassment for the trouble making tenant including gossiping to other tenants and city officials.
Charges huge fees for utilities that are not based on a monthly bill from service providers—the owner will not explain how he arrives at over $100 per month for a one-bedroom apartment, $70 per month for an efficiency, and $150 per month for a two-bedroom. The dollar amount for my apartment has been exactly the same down to the penny for three months. The manager stated the utilities were calculated by square footage and use but that cannot be true given the billed amount.
According to the Attorney General, all businesses operating in Colorado are required to be registered with the Secretary of State; the business entity that rent payments are made to is ESP LLC and it does not exist in the state of Colorado. I could not find the owner’s business entity, ESP LLC, registered with the Secretary of State or any reference to ESP LLC related to rental property or management of any property but we are required to submit rent payment to ESP LLC. If a business lacks the ethics to register with the state or to follow health and safety codes or respond to maintenance issues, reconsider whether you have the time and money to waste on a business built to rip you off. Keep in mind renters in Colorado have no legal remedies under the law; you will end up leaving the property one way or another so why waste your money.