Call Kurtis: Hot Water Issue At Government Owned Apartment Complex

WOODLAND (CBS13) - Residents of the Crosswood Apartment complex say they've been without hot water for months.

"It's hell. It's like I feel like a pioneer, said Connie Davis.

They say they can't take baths or wash dishes without boiling water.

"If these aren't sterile, I can catch anything," Davis said while showing her sink full of dishes."

"(I) can't bathe period, it's terrible," said Shelly Funston who called us.

Donzetta Ketherside says broken pipes have caused hot water to puddle outside her unit.

"No one's doing anything about it," she said.

"Sure we live in low income property," Donna Bailey Estrada said. "But they don't have to treat us the way they do, just because we can't afford to pay high rent."

Attorney Mitch Abdallah says under the law tenants are guaranteed things like electricity, plumbing, hot water and heat.

"If the landlord doesn't fix the problem you can walk," he said.

He says first notify the landlord of the issue in writing. If they don't fix it, you have options. He says you can withhold a reasonable amount of rent, have it fixed yourself and deduct the repairs from your rent, or you can move and sue your landlord for your expenses.

"You can bring action for your moving costs, and cost of the new apartment," he said.

CBS13 has learned the Yolo County Housing Authority owns Crosswood Apartments. The government agency's CEO Lisa Baker acknowledged ongoing issues at the property. Since buying the complex last year, she says they've been lining up financing to fix up the complex and claims she just learned of this hot water issue, despite tenants saying they've been complaining to her agency.

"When the tenants say this has been a problem for months, you were unaware of it," I asked.

"I was not aware of it," she responded.

"Now you are," I said.

"Now I am and it will be fixed."

Baker held true to her word. The hot water returned the next day.

"We can take a shower, so we're thankful for that," one resident said.

"The water seems hotter now than it's ever been," said Bailey Estrada.

The property is managed by FPI Management of Folsom. They never returned our calls. The Yolo County Housing Authority says it inherited all of the issues when buying this run down property. Each city or county has a code enforcement department or health department and you can complain to them. According to Mark Dennis from Yolo County, they have the ability to fine landlords and could force them to relocate tenants until an issue is fixed.

October Response from Yolo County Housing Authority CEO Lisa Baker answering our questions.

The work was approved yesterday (as we discussed previously) and, as of today, we have a temporary fix to the units. The plumber will be working on a more permanent fix from now through Saturday. This should complete the plumbing work and finish work being done by the middle to end of next week..

It is my understanding that they all have hot water now. We do hope that the more permanent fix will ensure that they continue to have reliable hot water.

We acquired the property on April 16, 2012. We acquired it in order to maintain its affordability and to address the development's deterioration. Since acquisition, we have been working with FPI on a number of initiatives. This includes fair housing training, additional training in tenant rights and the Violence against Women's Act (VAWA), work order management/maintenance and grounds maintenance. It also included eliminating obstructions on walkways, replacement of washers/dryers with more reliable and newer machines, better communication through regular resident meetings,installed Americans with Disability Act (ADA) improvements for a disabled resident and addressing, on an interim basis, some of the long term issues caused by overall deferred maintenance.

We will look at all available options to be sure that we achieve our goal of quality customer care.

We would say, we understand that the issues created by past deferred maintenance are difficult. We are working hard to put together a comprehensive rehabilitation package that will address deficiencies we inherited. We believe in a quality living environment, but we must put together the financing needed to achieve that. At this time, we have received our tax credit reservation and are finalizing the loan package . Together with this and tax-exempt bonds, we expect we will be able to achieve long term decent affordable housing for our residents. It is an arduous task in these difficult financial times, but we will persevere because we believe in the mission.