TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Several tenants of a Tampa apartment complex said they are concerned about an ongoing “abatement” project involving the pipes in their walls.
A letter from Summit West management told tenants “no one can be in the home, including pets” during the work on the first day of the project that was expected to take “between eight to 12 business days.”
The letter stated the crews would do their best to complete the project “quicker if possible.”
Renee Roberts said the work in her nearly $ 1,800-a-month apartment took about a week, and pictures she provided showed several holes in the wall and a sign warning about the dangers of asbestos.
In the letter, tenants were told they could be in their units during the project after the first day as long as they were not in the rooms where crews were working at the time.
Roberts and some of her neighbors said they were concerned about what was in the air and decided to stay away beyond the first day “to be safe.”
“I’ve just been kind of riding it out, sitting in my car the whole day,” Roberts said. “It’s very disruptive.”
Disabled veteran Mickielee Marsh said she has a severe case of asthma and other medical conditions that have prompted her to look for somewhere else to stay while the work is done in her apartment.
“I have no family out here,” Marsh said. “Where am I to go?”
When asked what her concerns were, she was blunt.
“Not waking up,” Marsh said. “It’s unfair to me. I have serious medical conditions they do not care about. And it’s not right.”
Tenants who are still waiting for the work to start in their homes insisted they should be offered somewhere else to stay while the project is underway.
Cheri Chitty-Crumm, who said she is disabled, hired an attorney to make her case. The attorney sent a letter to the complex alleging that management is “attempting to breach the lease by forcing” Chitty-Crumm to leave her apartment without “credit or compensation.”
“Where am I supposed to go?” Chitty-Crumm said. “I don’t have family in this area. It’s just me and my seven-year-old daughter and my dog.”
Marsh said she cannot afford to pay for a hotel for her and her service dog when the work starts on her apartment.
“I moved in January and they never warned me about this. They must have an apartment for [us] to stay in,” Marsh said. “You don’t know my health risks. So you can’t tell me what’s going to happen to me at the end of the day.”
While the complex has yet to respond to multiple inquiries from 8 On Your Side, the letter to its tenants stated they are welcome to go to the office and “allow us the opportunity to answer any questions or concerns.”