TAMPA, Fla. — The management of Holly Court Apartments in North Tampa has finally responded to eviction reports and claims of unsafe living conditions after weeks of requests from 10 Tampa Bay.
Palm Communities, the property manager for the Holly Court Apartments, released a written statement on Monday afternoon explaining what actions it has taken since November 2021, when it was hired to manage the property.
In its three months in charge, the company says it has spent more than $60,000 on improvements, repairs and trash clean-ups.
Palm Communities says when some residents reported a drop in their water pressure, back in December, it sent over a licensed repair company that found sand in the pumped water.
"We then sent 2 maintenance technicians and 4 licensed plumbers to open each apartment’s water lines and flush the sand out of their water fixtures," Palm Communities wrote.
The property managers say the water treatment company has since certified the water as drinkable, and there have been no further reports of sand in the water. Still, Palm Communities says it is taking extra steps to keep people safe, including connecting the apartments to City of Tampa tapwater lines.
"The connection process has been graciously & professionally expedited by Hillsborough County and City of Tampa," Palm Communities said.
As for the eviction complaints, the property management company suggests reports have been overblown.
"While it has been reported that we issued 'dozens of eviction notices,' we gave 7 Notices of Non-Renewal to apartments with expired leases, and offered twice the time that State of Florida requires," Palm Communities said. "We also waived rent charges and have not enforced the nonrenewal notices even though the term has expired. With the generous partnership of the University Area Community Development Corporation, all residents whose nonrenewals expired have been offered temporary housing, and we have offered for them to return to the property at their original contract rental rates once the tapwater connection is complete."
Claims in the Palm Communities statement run contrary to what tenants have shared with 10 Tampa Bay.
Jasmine Rolfe continues to live in one of the single-bedroom units. Despite the management company saying the water treatment company has certified the water as drinkable, Rolfe says, "It is not! If I gave you a cup of this yellow dirty water and asked you to drink it, you wouldn't!"
Rolfe says the issues with the water began when Palm Communities took over, and she and her family have since used the water only for bathing.
Rolfe says she has received a non-renewal notice which asks her to be out by March 31. However, she says the lease she initially agreed upon with the previous manager was through July.
Rolfe says all one-bedroom unit tenants have been asked to leave. So far, she says 10 units have moved out. Rolfe says she's among the remaining four tenants with one-bedroom apartments who were given later move-out dates.
Tenant Mya Lee gave those same numbers, saying she is among the 10 tenants who received a notice on New Year's Eve to move out by Jan. 31.
Lee says she and her family had been dealing with dirty well water for months, starting from before Palm Communities took over. They also only use the water to bathe, turning to bottled water for everything else. But even bathing in the water, she says, has contributed to her and her children's eczema. (Photos below show what the water coming out of her bathtub looked like on Jan. 31.)
Lee said no one had been to her apartment recently to try and fix the problem and added that she could not get ahold of anyone on the current property management team to report the on-going issue.
"Text... don't answer. Call... don't answer. There is no email address," said Lee.
Mya Lee also says her original apartment lease runs through July.
Lee is a mother to two girls under the age of two. She lived at Holly Court Apartments since last summer with her daughters, a partner, her mother and a cousin. She and her family left Holly Court last Friday, Feb. 4.
On Jan. 20, protestors gathered outside of the apartments to demand more time from the management company.
10 Tampa Bay tried to contact one of the seven tenants who received "Notices of Non-Renewal" but did not hear back.