Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown has filed a complaint against the owners and operator of five affordable senior housing properties in Snohomish County, Washington, alleging that the parties engaged in unfair and deceptive practices involving the price and quality of the units.
According to a lawsuit filed in Snohomish County Superior Court on June 13, Folsom, California-based FPI Management and the property’s owners marketed these apartment complexes as low-income units directed at tenants aged 55 and older. The properties — Vintage at Everett, Vintage at Mill Creek, Vintage at Sequim, Vintage at Tacoma and Cedar Pointe.
Apartments advertised “luxury” and “resort-style” accommodations, according to the complaint, and offered amenities such as pools, fitness centers and computer rooms.
However, the plaintiff alleges that FPI Management misrepresented the condition of the apartments to potential tenants, the availability and quality of amenities and the safety of the property.
Over the course of several years, tenants had reported dirty apartments, broken appliances, leaks, mold and torn flooring in their units, according to the court filing. Some stated that they had been shown a model unit during the leasing process that was significantly nicer than the rented units. Other complaints included advertised amenities that were inoperable, permanently closed or did not exist at all, as well as security issues such as trespassing, theft and vandalism.
The complaint also states that the defendants did not properly disclose that tenants’ future rent increases could be calculated based on the area median income, in accordance with Low-Income Housing Tax Credit restrictions. This led many senior tenants living on fixed incomes to pay an unsustainable amount toward rent after increases, according to Brown.
Difficult living conditions are an especially harmful situation for seniors, the lawsuit states, as they are less likely to move units than other tenants due to the physical and financial strain of moving.
“It’s egregious to convince vulnerable populations they’re getting quality living when in reality they are stuck with properties in disrepair that also end up costing more than they expected over time,” Brown said in the news release.
FPI Management — ranked No. 6 on the National Multifamily Housing Council’s Top 50 Managers list — operates all five of the properties named in the complaint. The company operates 165,000 apartment units in 23 states, about 45% of which are affordable, according to the lawsuit. It has a total of 87 properties in Washington in its portfolio.
The seven ownership entities named in the complaint are associated with Newport Beach, California-based owner Vintage Housing and Agoura Hills, California-based owner Amcal. FPI Management and Vintage Housing did not respond to a request for comment from Multifamily Dive, and Amcal declined to comment.
The attorney general seeks an injunction from the court preventing the defendants from continuing the alleged conduct, a civil penalty of $12,500 per violation of the Consumer Protection Act and an award to the state for the costs of litigation, according to the release.
