First a
little backstory:
I currently
reside in a trailer park in Central New York . I know, you all probably thought that this
website would have me rolling in money like Scrooge McDuck, but alas that is
not the case. Around two years ago, the
park itself was placed under new management.
The first thing that I noticed about the park was that most, if not all
of the regular staff was gone. Everyone
that had been there when I first moved in, and had been incredibly helpful I
might add, were gone. In their place,
the company had contracted out the everyday services, such as general
maintenance, landscaping and snow plowing.
With this new group of workers came a severe dip in the standards around
the park as you will read below. This
was obviously a drastic reduction in cost to the park (or else they would not
have done it) and yet the rent kept rising every year for “maintenance
costs”. From the beginning of my time
there, the mantra of the park has been “you take care of things from the ground
up (meaning your home) and they will take care of the grounds themselves. This makes sense, in theory, but the
practical application does not work so well.
Things reached a boiling point in December when I received a notice
about an impending rent increase. My
response to that is below.
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
To Whom It May Concern:
I reside at Lot 5111 in the Casual Estates community, and have done
so for nearly four years now. In that
time, I have seen my rent increase every year between eleven to fifteen dollars
each time. This year was no different,
and while I understand the need to raise the rent (you are in this business to
make money after all) the explanation given along with how the park is run has
prompted me to contact you.
I live in a lot that
is often forgotten and neglected by the maintenance staff. In fact, unless I make a phone call to the
clubhouse, my lawn remains unmowed for weeks at a time. The weedeating is completed even less
frequently. The path from my parking
space to my residence is sunken so far into the ground that it turns into a
creek at the slightest rain storm, creating an unsafe environment, especially
in these colder months. This is an
issue that I addressed upon moving in four years ago, but has been put on the
bottom of your priority list as you continue to import new homes. When I return home from work everyday
(between 530 and 600) I am routinely greeted by darkness in my cul de sac. This is during a prime traffic period where
people may be walking or, even worse, individuals that wish to do harm may be
waiting. The lack of adequate lighting
at prime drive times puts everyone that enters that circle in jeopardy. During the winter months, the plows are
notoriously late in doing their job.
They often wait until after people have left and school buses have come
and gone to complete their plowing and salting of the roads. This leads to people unable to get out of
their parking spaces and creates an overall dangerous situation for everyone
involved. Just last year, my son’s bus
nearly went into a neighbor’s yard because the roads had not been plowed by
1030 in the morning. There are constant
notices of crimes being committed in the park, and while it is not possible to keep
everyone safe all the time, it creates an unsafe environment and not one that
coincides with your wish to create “high standards” for the community.
With all of the above
transgressions outlined, I feel compelled to ask, what are the “ever-increasing
business costs” that you mention as justification for continuing to raise the
rent on a lot you have neglected? They
are obviously not business costs related to the upkeep of the current
residences. Are they the costs to tear
down and install new homes in the park?
If so, how is that cost my responsibility (or anyone’s but yours)? I understand the need to fill the empty spots
with homes for prospective families but instead of a community of happy
residents touting the park in general, you are now left with multiple new,
vacant homes sitting next to neglected property. Please understand that no amount of new homes
in the park is going to “maximize the value of ‘my’ home” as much as a
maintenance staff actually taking care of the lot. I was told when I moved in that any repairs
to anything from the “slab up” is my responsibility, which I have taken care
of. The implication of that statement is
that everything else is the responsibility of the park to maintain unless some
kind of an agreement is made between the renter and the park. No such agreement has been made which means
you have failed to live up to your end of the bargain. If I was renting an apartment, the landlord
would be in charge of maintaining the place of residence. All I am renting from you is a piece of land
that I ask be mowed in regular intervals and be made safe for the
residents. Neither is happening on a
consistent basis, so the question I have to ask is, what am I paying money
for? A piece of land or just the
privilege of living in a trailer park?
I request some response
from you in regards to this letter. If
no response is given I will forward these concerns on to the Better Business
Bureau as it is fairly evident that you are not providing the services that you
claim to be.
This letter
was responded to a few days later by the park, basically denying any
responsibility in the issues that I discussed.
Fast forward a couple months to the middle of winter, and for those not
in the area or in the know, winter has been weird in central New York this year. What we lack in consistency in terms of
snowfall, we make up for in volume when it does actually hit. Despite the severity of the snow storms, no
one is ever really caught off guard by them, except for the park apparently. Here is another letter recently passed along
to the park, detailing not only a growing concern shared by multiple people
within the park, but also a response by one of their employees to said concern.
Friday, February 15,
2013
To Whom It May Concern:
Back in December, upon
receipt of a letter notifying me of an increase in my monthly rent, I wrote you
a letter, trying to figure out where all of that money is going and why the
rent is even going up as the services themselves are either decreasing or being
done away with completely. I made a specific
list of things that were not done or were done to such sub-standard degree that
they may as well not been attempted in the first place. Your response basically denied knowledge
and/or responsibility for any and all issues that I mentioned.
Many of the issues
that I mentioned in that December letter are things that, while an annoyance,
are tolerable to a certain degree. One
thing that is intolerable is your treatment of the park during the winter, more
specifically when it snows. There have been
many occasions this year where the snow has come fast and furious, but a
properly staffed and equipped unit of individuals would have no problem taking
care of the accumulation of snow. There
have been numerous instances where tenants have become stuck in the snow in my
cul de sac alone, and one instance this year where my son’s bus became stuck in
the snow trying to get to him at 7:45am.
Luckily this year, my son’s bus has not gone off the road as it did last
year, but given the neglect that comes from your workers after a snow storm, it
is only a matter of time.
What I do not
understand is where the workers with the plows are? Why do they wait until it is convenient for
them, usually the next morning, before they start plowing? On February 8, we received a great deal of
snow, but it was basically all done by seven or eight o’clock at night. While it was nearly impossible to even get
into my parking spot that night, I knew that it would be worse trying to back
out the following morning until the plows came around. In years past, the plows would have come
around that night, especially since the snow had stopped falling, and everyone
would have woke up to, at the most, having to clean out behind their own vehicles
and nothing more.
On February 9 at 10:30am I called the
clubhouse as nothing had been plowed and there was no sign of anyone in the
near future. Stephanie at the front desk
proceeded to explain to me that because she was able to get out of her parking
spot that I should be able to get out of mine.
Considering the fact that I was barely able to get into it the night
before, I knew that that would not be the case.
She then proceeded to inform me that if I really wanted to get out of my
parking space I could hire a plow to come and plow out my circle, at my own
expense, all of which was relayed to me with the most possible attitude that
she could muster, as if the snowfall was my fault. I have been stuck in the snow in your park
before, I have nearly killed my car trying to get out of those situations, and
now I am being scolded like a child because I am unwilling to risk further
damage to my vehicle in the face of negligence on the part of the park. If that is the kind of customer service that
you foster in your employees, it is no wonder that practically all of the new
homes you have placed around me sit empty.
FYI: The plow did not hit Aldgate until 2:30
that afternoon.
This is a direct
excerpt from aboutarc.com:
Service Guarantee
American
Residential is committed to making our residents’ living experience with us
second to none. That’s why our communities feature professional management
on-site. So we’re there when you need us. Plus, we guarantee that we will
respond to our residents within 24 hours regarding any property management or
maintenance concerns they may have. Customer service and resident satisfaction
are our highest priorities. We look forward to serving you.
Please tell me if that
sounds accurate based on the services you currently offer, because I can almost
guarantee that if you poll the residents of the park, the response will be
mixed at best, with many of them most likely laughing at this description.
What will it take to get you to realize what
a problem this is? Is it going to take
first responders being unable to get through to someone that needs help? Will it be a school bus flipping over because
it is basically trying to navigate through snowdrifts and slush? I can’t be the only person that is incensed
by the lack of foresight or common decency here. It’s as if our money is being collected to
line pockets with nothing being put back into the community. And I’m not asking for anything but an
adequate plow service and maybe a girl at the front desk without so much
attitude.
At this point I don’t even care what your
“ever increasing business costs” are. I
know I won’t get a straight answer and considering the fact that the staff has
been decimated by lay-offs while everyone’s rent is increased annually, any
justification you try and make will fall on the deaf ears of a disgruntled
homeowner. However your lack of either
noticing or caring for the current plight that is the plowing in your park is
becoming dangerous. It’s only a matter
of time before someone gets hurt trying to traverse the snow covered streets in
a feeble attempt to just get to work so they have the money to pay your
outrageously high rent.
I know that this is a business, but all I am
asking for is that you hold those working for you accountable. That your tenants not be relegated to second
class status because they are living in a trailer park, and that the roads get
plowed in a timely manner, not when it’s convenient for the people with the
plow.
This letter
garnered no response at all, at least not yet.
I am currently looking at better housing situations in order to get out
of the current predicament.
Unfortunately, having two children with special needs means that school
districts play a much larger role in my choice than they normally would. That being said, even if and when I do leave,
these actions (or in-actions I you want to get technical) should not be glossed
over. The fact that this company is
collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars every month to “run” a company but
providing little to nothing in return is ridiculous and a microcosm of a bigger
epidemic. Sure, bringing this to light
won’t help fix everything that’s wrong with corporate America , but it
may help fix this situation, and for those that will still be living here after
I’m gone, it’s enough.
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