Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/24/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  There really needs to be some kind of resolve for tenants, since these ******************** Groups and Owners just run roughshod over those tenants every which way but loose. They are protected by all these laws, giving them all kinds of protection while tenants have no rights.I am placing my case in the potential fraud category, because over the last three years my apartment, **********************, was flooded each year while I had approximately $ ***** worth of damage to my things - clothing, art, and personal items just last year, 2022, alone. Plus, a $273 moving charge I incurred because they made me move to another apartment, for which I still have not received any compensation. For the 2021 flood damage they blamed ****** Permanente from whom they received a settlement, however, totally ignored my claim. The flooding that occurred May 11, 2023, also damaged items in my storage shed.After moving in over the Thanksgiving weekend of 2019, there was a flood in said apartment for each of the three years that I occupied said apartment with the summer of 2022 receiving the worst damage. After this flood I was asked if I would move to another apartment because they wanted to go in and gut my apartment to fix the flooding damage. It took me about four to six more months before I could move, because the apartment complex first wanted me to move into a place that was across town, then the others were just not right, finally they let me move into an apartment on the third floor of my same building. I was never given any written or verbal notice of the potential problems of this flooding which occur on a regular basis. From my neighbor, I was told about a flood that occurred the summer before I moved in and that is why the previous tenant left. The fact this information was never given to me is fraudulent. This failure to disclose critical information on serious faults is because they do not want to discourage their future rentals while subjecting their tenants to potential and possibly serious damage in addition to potential health problems from the mold possibly growing behind these walls. There could have been serious structural water damage that was occurring with each of these floods. Not only the structural damage but the water damage from the mold growing in the walls and flooring after each of these reoccurring floods. My storage shed was flooded this week of May 11, 2023, with the heavy rains that occurred, this makes it four years in a row that I have been subjected to flooding and damage. This is after they wanted me out so they could make structural repairs. These repairs were just a big scam as they did nothing to make any necessary repairs that would possibly prevent this invasion of outside water.After I moved out in January 2023 within two to three months, they had re rented my previous apartment without making any of those so-called repairs they had me move out for. All they did was repaint the apartment with no repairs such as taking the walls down and removing the flooring to restore it with new construction to fix the flooding problems they were going to correct. The new tenant of my previous apartment was subjected to a flood this past week with this steady downpour of rain, just to show that management and the owners have no concern for their tenants. They had me move out because they stated my apartment needed repairs, then they turned right around and rented it less than 3 months after I moved. They made no repairs nor had any consideration or intentions to make these necessary repairs, just their concerns about making money and hurting another tenant.There are definite engineering problems with this apartment complex. First, starting with the poorly designed landscaping which is 2 to 3 feet higher in the southern end allowing for water to flow right into the sublevel apartments. The other construction and structure problems are the 1950s/60s sunken staircases. These stairs being lower than the walkways just act as a funnel for this ******* water. Then the doors are not designed to offer any kind of resistance to this ******* water because they have no watertight seals plus there is a gaping opening at the bottom adding for free-flowing water entrance. The small drain at the bottom of these stairs is a disgrace which leads to a poorly functioning sump pump situated right below said bedroom window dumping the water right back down the stairs.************ Apartments, ********************************************************** complex is managed by A T ********************************* Don *********************** Broker, ********************************************************************, and owned by ********************** *******************************************************************. **** ************************* is on the filings as the possible owner.In researching these companies, I noticed on Ownerly, that the tenant, *************************, from my first apartment previously filed a lien against ************** in early 2019 which was released later that year, Release #CO302019CO in the Jeffco Court System.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/03/2023

  This is an ongoing problem that we have spent several thousand dollars trying to solve. We have installed French drains and sump pumps to divert the water away from the building. This had seemed to be effective for normal weather events. On May 11th ******** had recorded breaking rainfall of **** inches, and 5 inches over three days and several units flooded. The property is located at the lowest point of the surrounding area. We are working with city to ascertain if the storm drain coming from ****** needs to be addressed. We are also in the process of obtaining a topographic and improvement survey to re-engineer a revised grading plan. This will be an enormous project costing tens of thousands and it will take time. As the resident has stated after his unit flooded we moved him from the garden level 1 bedroom unit into to an upper-level two-bedroom unit as compensation we gave him the month of December rent free and are still only charging him for a garden level one-bedroom unit. We are working on filing an insurance claim for the damage, but we will compensate this resident for the items in their storage unit. To set the record straight we have never received a settlement of any kind from ****** or anyone else for water damage to this property.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/06/2023

   
  Complaint: 20094360
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 

  I am grateful that A. T. Smith and Company has admitted to the ongoing flood problems, however, I am still waiting for my $ ***** claim to be acknowledged. They are talking about a storage unit claim but not the real claim. Secondly, A. T. Smith nor ********************* did not compensate me for any free rent this past December 2022. My checking account records can verify that I paid them rent for all 12 months of 2022 and the present six months of 2023.

  This management company and *************** the owners, both should be held accountable for failure of disclosure and not providing essential information to prospective tenants for these regularly occurring flood problems. They have shown no concern to previous tenants or new tenants. They hinted at my moving because they were going to gut my previous apartment and fix the previous problems. However, what do they do but turn right around then re rent said apartment to a new tenant then he in turn becomes flooded out.

  These floods go back four years, not to mention how many previous tenants had been subjected to them. Using the excuse of unusual rain on May 11, 2023, for causing the flood makes no sense when these floods have been previously occurring on a regular basis.

  Claiming that they spent Thousands of Dollars trying to solve this problem makes no sense, when they could have built a 2-foot-high brick fence in the south end then having this brick fence continuing southwest two feet outside and away from the said flush sidewalk, redirecting the flood water away towards the parking lot, eliminating the sidewalk from acting like a funnel for this ******* water right into the sunken stairwells. They could also have installed good watertight weather stripping around the door jams and thresholds, keeping the water out in the first place. We will not even mention their small drains and undersized sump pumps. This flood water from under the building was being dumped right back into the stairwells with the way they were set up.

  My neighbor just had a second floor within the last month.  These floods have not been responded to in the past four years that I know about and now more floods with no concerns.  Things have gone way beyond and action is needed now.

   

   

  J R White

  
   

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/29/2023

  A. T. Smith & *** has worked tirelessly to resolve this issue and has been met with only resistance and lack of cooperation from the City of Lakewood. We have finally confirmed the responsible party and see now that our efforts were not properly communicated to the residents, thus creating the perception that no action was being taken. We appreciate the feedback that has been provided and are using it to improve as a company.
  
  To clear up any misconceptions, here is a list of actions A. T. Smith & *** has taken in our attempts to resolve this issue:
  
  The gutters have been assessed, extended, and rerouted many times by multiple gutter vendors.
  
  The walkways have been assessed, replaced, and adapted for additional drainage.
  
  The owners have spent thousands of dollars on warrantied flood prevention work around ****************** unit, which included installing a large sump pump with a trench drain and system in September 2019. This was an accredited company who provided a warranty with their work. A. T. Smith & *** has held them to this warranty; including work completed prior to the previous residents' tenancy. A. T. Smith & *** is no longer working with this company.
  
  We have contacted the City of Lakewood many times, which resulted in them cleaning out the storm water drain in the cul-de-sac once a year, but there were no specific answers to the problem.
  
  We have attempted to work with the neighbors to the South of the property more times than we can count to no avail.
  
  After each of these attempts to resolve this issue, we were assured that the problem was resolved which is why we have continued to move in residents into this unit. When this building flooded, we gave the residents the option to move out and have offered and/or provided assistance in finding new residences as stated in the last response.
  
  Unfortunately, the record-breaking rainfall and subsequent flooding that occurred this rainy season, starting May 11th, 2023, was the trigger to push The City of Lakewood to acknowledge the problem. The City has identified that the water mitigation system of the neighbors to the South of the property is ineffective and should have never been approved and installed when the building and parking lot were originally built. With this new information, A. T. Smith & *** and the owners are taking a new approach in resolving this issue, which will include pursuing compensation for the already long list of expenses the owners have incurred from the responsible party. The owners have provided ************** with his requested amount of $7,000 for personal items lost in flooding. In addition, A. T. Smith & *** has been working to relocate all of the residents in garden level units since the flooding first started on May 11th, 2023.

  A. T. Smith & Company sincerely understands ****************** frustrations and his experience renting with us. While his interpretation of the situation is justified, there was (and still) is a lot more going on behind the scenes that he is unaware of. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/10/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/28/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  AT Smith has proven to be untrustworthy and has shown extreme lack of communication or concern for this estate as property owners. AT Smith has been spending money of the property owners without consent and in December, 2022, asked for $10,000 to cover additional expenses after already taking income from November rent to cover expenses as well. This shows an extreme lack of regard for us as property owners and reckless spending. We have no faith that any work has actually been done on any of these properties. In order to retain AT Smith, a formal list of provisions were sent to them. A formal complaint will also be filed with the BBB.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/09/2023

  A.T. Smith & *** highest priority is to provide excellent service to our clients and residents. We strive to provide comprehensive stewardship over the properties we manage and work to be conscientious of the cost that are incurred to maintain the properties. We value this client and have a meeting scheduled tomorrow to regress their concerns. We will immediately begin working to rebuild their trust. I will add to this after we have met with them.
  

  Tell us why here...

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/17/2023

   
  Complaint: 18651843
  
  I am rejecting this response because: This is a proper start, and we had one initial meeting to start some conversations. However, that's a far cry from properly managing our properties. It's clear they have been mismanaged for years. Communication MUST improve so that we know when our money is being spent, and to approve the expenditures. I will revisit my post in 3 months to see if AT Smith has managed to turn around the way they deal with us as property owners. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************