Bed bugs, urine-covered carpets and missing furniture.
That’s what some residents at The Pavilion on 62nd found in their apartments as they tried to move in this past weekend. But as they waited in line at the complex’s main office, there was little response from management, they said.
Enrique Kopetman, 55, said he rushed to the office Saturday morning after he walked into his daughter, Sara’s, new apartment and was appalled by the conditions.
“When I walked in, it was filthy,” Kopetman said, describing a moldy AC and foam on the bed, which was coated with stains and bed bugs instead of a mattress. “There was this toxic smell as soon as we opened the door, like a combination of urine and feces.”
By 10 a.m., he said, he was one of 50 people in line with complaints for management. But when he asked to cancel the lease contract, which promised a professional cleaning and walk-through by management before move-in day, Kopetman said the manager refused.
“She said, ‘No, we’re going to fix it today,’” he said Sunday night. “That was Saturday morning. I went back today and everything was the same.”
The apartment complex, located at 1000 SW 62nd Blvd., was sold to Pierce Education Properties at the end of May, said Bob Hetherington, a representative for the complex, who described the move-in weekend as “chaotic” in a statement. Staff at the office declined to comment, and reporters were asked to leave the property.
Maria Godwin, a 21-year-old UF nursing junior, waited with 20 other upset residents on Sunday. She said she and her roommate had tried reaching out to staff about their apartment.
“Just name it, everything was wrong,” she said. “My roommate’s mattress was covered in stains and was urinated on; it was disgusting. We told the staff about it and (they) told us they were only fixing things that were urgent.”
In the statement, Hetherington said one of two professional cleaning firms hired to help prepare the apartments left prematurely, leading to “some frustration and short tempers” Saturday as senior managers focused on “high-priority issues.” But, he said, any unfinished units were cleaned by Sunday.
“Resolving resident concerns is part of daily life in student housing,” Hetherington said. “That’s happening at The Pavilion on 62nd. Residents express concerns; the staff works to resolve them. That give-and-take is a routine matter.”
Kopetman said while he found his daughter a new place to live before classes Monday, he plans on getting a lawyer to address the situation.
“Something must have gone very wrong with that management,” he said. “There’s no way they’ll have the resources to fix these problems in a timely manner.”
