Filth, mold and leaks plague apartments in Pembroke

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Filth, mold and leaks plague apartments in Pembroke

By JOHN P. KELLY

The Patriot Ledger

http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2006/07/06/news/news01.txt

PEMBROKE - Several tenants at Schoosett Village awoke to find their

bathrooms bathed in raw sewage after a septic back-up, adding to

ongoing gripes about living conditions at Pembroke's only apartment

complex.

After touring the mess, Health Agent Frederick Leary said he wants

top-to-bottom inspections of the four buildings off Route 139, where

he said tenants complain almost weekly of moldy and leaky ceilings,

overflowing trash bins or standing cellar water.

``It's the same address over and over,'' Leary said. ``I hear 180

Schoosett St. and think, `Oh no, what now?'''

The president of the company that owns the apartment complex blamed

many problems there on prior owners and said about $400,000 has been

spent on repairs and reconditioning the apartments. He said the

health board had brought to his attention problems in only one

apartment recently, and that situation had been addressed.

Tenants in four ground-level apartments at Schoosett Village woke up

yesterday to find their bathtubs and showers spilling over with

sewage, the result of an apparent clog in the septic line.

``It was overwhelming, the smell,'' said Lundberg, who lives

with her husband and two young children and pays $1,200 in

rent. ``It's ridiculous; no one should have to live like this.''

The 38-unit complex is owned by Taunton-based Synergy Capital Group

Inc. Its president, Dana Chiles, said the company has gone out of

its way to address tenants' concerns.

Since it bought the property about a year and a half ago, Synergy

Capital has spent roughly $400,000 replacing roofs, repainting,

bringing buildings up to fire code, and making other improvements,

Chiles said. Many of the problems, he said, were remnants of ``poor

management'' by previous owners.

``We don't have any outstanding maintenance issues from anyone who

is not under eviction,'' he said.

Chiles estimated five tenants are being evicted for unruly behavior

or not paying rent.

According to Chiles, the board of health has only informed him of

problems in one apartment recently.

Town records show the violations in that apartment included a moldy

bedroom ceiling, a broken window, a leaking toilet and birds nested

inside air-conditioning vents.

In a letter to Synergy Capital in May, Leary said he would take the

matter to court if the problems weren't fixed by June 15. Chiles

said the last of the problems was resolved last week.

Chiles made headlines in March 2005 when Bay State Gas shut off heat

to Schoosett Village because Chiles hadn't paid the bill.

Heat was restored the following day.

Chiles has also been fined several times by the town because trash

containers at the complex were overfilled.

Leary said tenants deserve a timely response to their complaints,

adding that his own calls to Synergy Capital generally go unanswered.

Leary said he would push for a joint inspection with officials from

the building and fire departments.

By early afternoon yesterday, tenants' tubs were emptied after a

contractor cleared the clog and a cleaning crew had been hired to

sanitize the bathrooms and clean soiled carpets.

Jo-Ann Brodie said the septic spillover, her third in six years as a

tenant there, is emblematic of problems that have plagued the

buildings through three property managers.

``For the longest time, (the owner) was advertising this place as

luxury apartments. We find needles in the laundry room,'' Brodie

said.

``But if you're a day late on your rent, there's an eviction notice

on your door,'' said Brodie, who said she works three jobs. ``I pay

$1,000 a month. For what?''

Brodie said some apartments are overcrowded, with up to 15 people

crammed into a two-bedroom unit, and no parking left for other

tenants.

Pembroke residents should be aware ``there's this slum in the middle

of their town,'' she said.

Leary, the health agent, said tenants have informed him of the

alleged overcrowding.

``There's (supposedly) a night shift that sleeps during the day and

a day shift that sleeps at night,'' he said of one apartment.

Chiles denied apartments are overcrowded.

Schoosett Village was built in the early 1990s under the state's

affordable-housing law, which requires that 12 of its apartments be

set aside for low-income families.

Chiles told the zoning board of appeals soon after buying the

property in late 2004 he was unaware the development was partially

income-restricted, but he vowed to comply with affordable-housing

requirements.

Chiles and Synergy Capital Group were sued last year by the U.S.

Department of Labor, which alleged Chiles required his employees to

work more than 40 hours a week without paying them overtime. Chiles

settled the suit by agreeing to pay $47,416 in fines and back pay to

20 employees.

P. may be reached at jkelly@... .