Signs of progress for residents at expensive Fort Lauderdale apartments experiencing maintenance problems
FORT LAUDERDALE — Drew and Caroline Behren have been living at the Manor apartment building in Flagler Village for two years. When the air conditioning in their hallway stopped working, it led to mold in the building. They say their property manager didn't listen.
"We wanted to go to a higher power to see if our problem could be solved," said Drew Behren.
They sent a message to CBS News Miami. On Wednesday, CBS News Miami went to their building and found many other residents had similar complaints.
Twenty-four hours after CBS News Miami aired the story, the Behrens say there has been some improvement
"It's now cool in our hallway so it's progress," Drew said.
But the story doesn't end there. Many residents in other Flagler Village apartment buildings report similar problems. When they heard what was happening at the Manor they began to reach out to CBS News Miami.
A resident at Solmar across the street from the Manor wrote: "There's been no cool air in the hallway for over two months. Some elevators have been out for over six weeks and after heavy rains, there's water in some apartments."
We asked Solmar's managers to respond and as of Thursday evening had not heard back. Down the block at the Rise apartment building in Flagler Village, we heard from tenants on a chat saying "On the 20th floor it feels like 80 degrees."
"It's sad and scary there are more people out there like us," said Drew Behren.
The management company for the manor, RPM Living, sent us a statement saying in part that the well-being of their residents is their No. 1 priority, and that they assumed management just over a month ago and are working to address concerns.
Code enforcement issues can be taken to the city of Fort Lauderdale. And we learned they launched a new app to get your problem to the right department — it's called "Fix It FTL."
"We are hopeful management will help us. Otherwise, we will keep fighting," said Caroline Behren.
