A dozen tenants at an Omaha apartment building are being threatened with water shutoffs after their property management company claimed they weren't paying Metropolitan Utilities District bills. However, the tenants say they have been paying their landlord for utility services, raising questions about how the property managers handle utility payments.
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Ebony Jones has lived in the Securities Building for four years and moved into her current unit a little over a year ago. During that time, she said she has paid a $75 flat rate for utilities, which includes water, trash and sewage, to her landlord Wise Owl Properties based on her lease agreement.
Last month, Jones received a letter from Wise Owl Properties stating her utilities are currently listed under the property management's name. The letter demanded that she change the utilities to her name and back pay for the last 15 months, or her water and gas would be shut off.
"I'm seriously confused, and I am concerned. I'm concerned of waking up one day and they go behind my back and sneakily have my utilities cut off because of an error on their end," Jones said.
This isn't the first time Wise Owl Properties has faced utility issues. In January, multiple properties managed by the company in Kansas City also had their water shut off.
"It's just bad. I haven't had no water in three weeks," a Kansas City tenant said at the time.
Jones receives assistance from the Omaha Housing Authority. She said she was excited to become a tenant because of the building's historic charm, and because her aunt lived there in the 1980s.
"I always wanted to live in here. So this is beyond just, you know, I'm here because of unaffordable housing. No, I'm here because of the history, and this is the reason why I'm so adamant about getting down to the bottom of the mismanagement of this company," Jones said.
The property also received a warning from MUD last month stating they're behind on testing the backflow to the sprinkler system.
"Honestly, they're starting to mirror a lot like City View to me. I'm just hoping that we don't turn to City View because this would be one historical beautiful building that we ever lost compared to City View," Jones said.
The building is owned by Mark Habibi, according to the register of deeds. Habibi lives in Los Angeles, California. The building operates under a land-use agreement, which means the property owner receives tax credits for renting to individuals with below-average incomes.
"Because it's all about leveraging other people's money. And honestly that's how I see it. That's what it is about. You [Wise Owl] just want to leverage other people's money. The first thing is always on your [Wise Owl] mind is how to get money out of us. How to get money out of us. Y'all [Wise Owl] good about coming for the money. But coming for the maintenance, the safety, the security," Jones said.
Jones said the building experiences a high turnover rate with property managers, leading to confusion.
"I have gone through six property managers in almost four years. Six. I started off with a Holly, then a Denise, then a JD. Then John, then this middleman who was here but for five minutes. All of them have had different answers," Jones said.
Jones believes the rotating management is a large cause of issues in the building.
"How could you let something like that go by for 15 months and then come out of nowhere 15 months later, three months after my lease expires, and I'm on month-to-month, and now say, I'm supposed to go to MUD with this expired lease and have them backdated 15 months?" Jones said.
On top of the utility issues, Jones said the building has become increasingly unsafe over the years.
"This building is called Securities Building, but there's no security. Security where? Where's the security? The doors are always broken. It's always vandalized. Our elevators are constantly vandalized. We get urine. We get fecal matter on our stairs, in our hallways," Jones said.
The first letter stated that if Jones did not comply, her water and gas would be shut off on September 5. On Monday, Jones said she and the other tenants received another seven-day notice.
KMTV's multiple attempts to reach the company's Omaha property manager were unsuccessful.
A MUD spokesperson said they are "unable to provide customer account information due to privacy policies."
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