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An owner and property manager’s alleged neglect in maintaining an Indianapolis apartment complex comprised mostly of residents who are elderly, disabled or on fixed incomes has spurred the Indiana Attorney General’s Office to file a lawsuit against both parties.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced this week the filing of a civil lawsuit against the owner and property manager of Willow Brook Apartments in Indianapolis.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Marion Superior Court, names Willow Brook Gardens LLC, the property owner, and Beztak Properties, the property management company as defendants.
The complaint alleges the defendants supported and engaged in “the unlicensed practice of real estate, failing to repair major systems in a reasonable amount of time, failing to provide reasonable modifications for a tenant with disabilities, mismanaging tenant billing and legal documentation, and failing to meaningfully respond to other issues raised by tenants.”
It also alleges those failures caused tenants actual monetary harm.
According to the complaint, most of the tenants residing in Willow Brook Apartments are elderly, disabled and/or on a fixed income. The complex, which consists of 48 townhomes, is located at 2121 E. 52nd St. in Indianapolis.
The complaint alleges that Beztak does not reasonably respond to tenant communications or maintenance requests and does not complete work adequately when it does respond to requests, which leaves tenants with “unresolved habitability issues.”
Further, it alleges that despite deferring maintenance and allowing a multitude of other issues with tenants to go unresolved, the owners have started fully refurbishing other Willow Brook units in order to list them on Airbnb.
“We are here to protect Hoosiers,” Rokita said in a news release. “That’s why we regularly take action against businesses doing harm to consumers through either negligent or willful misconduct, and this case represents just one more instance in which we are defending the rule of law and standing up for the little guy. This case represents yet another example of out-of-state real estate investors seeking to put their heel on the neck of working-class Hoosiers. Our office will not allow that kind of conduct to continue.”
The lawsuit also alleges neither Willow Brook nor Beztak are registered to do business in Indiana and are also operating without a required real estate broker company license.
Danette Stenta, senior vice president marketing for Beztak Properties, which is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, issued a response to the complaint and its allegations.
“While we do not want to comment on the specifics of pending litigation, we dispute the allegations that Beztak is not licensed and unauthorized to conduct business in the state of Indiana. Our corporate counsel reached out to the attorney general and has provided, or will be providing, the appropriate documentation. We are further investigating the other allegations and look forward to swiftly resolving all issues with the attorney general,” Stenta said in an email to Indiana Lawyer.
Willow Brook Apartments acknowledged receipt of an email from Indiana Lawyer regarding the complaint and stated someone would be following up but had not done so by Lawyer deadline on Friday.
The mortgage assignee, U.S. Bank N.A., is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit to assert any interest it may have in the property.
The complaint further alleges that Beztak manages at least five other multifamily properties in the Indianapolis area, including: Wellington Village at 1714 Wellington Ave.; The Hermitage at 2234 Hermitage Way; Eagle Lake Landing at 2054 High Eagle Trail; Briergate Apartments at 9117 Briergate Ct. B; and Beech Meadow at 147 Diplomat Ct.
It includes descriptions taken from individual units at Willow Brook Apartments that detail allegations of faulty plumbing, failure to seal sinks properly, a leaking toilet and bathtub in one unit that led to a monthly water bill of approximately $808, roof deficiencies, and furnaces that were not repaired in a timely manner.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants’ conduct violates Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act and the Home Loan Practices Act.
The Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County filed a complaint against Willow Brook on Aug. 30, 2022, alleging that an HHC inspection discovered violations in one the complex’s apartments in April 2022, and that the violations had not been repaired nearly four months later.
In requesting judgment against Willow Brook Gardens and Beztak, the Attorney General’s Office is seeking to enjoin Beztak from operating as a business and engaging in the practice of real estate in Indiana without a license.
According to the complaint, the state is also seeking an order for the defendants to pay tenants restitution for the extra cost of utilities they incurred, and damages incurred and/or money obtained as a result of violations of the Home Loan Practices Act and Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act.
Additionally, the lawsuit seeks costs and civil penalties, as well as a licensed broker company to manage the apartments or a court-ordered receivership of the defendants’ assets if they are noncooperative.
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