‘Leaving us in the dark’: Richmond apartments could be in violation of fair housing act due to broken elevators

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Frustration is growing among residents of a Richmond apartment complex due to broken elevators and a lack of transparency from management.

8News obtained an email sent to tenants at “The Summit at Scott’s Addition,” saying elevators have been out since Sunday, Feb. 17 after a power surge caused mechanical failures.

In an updated message to tenants the afternoon of Monday, Feb. 24, property management said they are still waiting for parts to arrive and, once they do, repairs could take a full day.

According to the Fair Housing Act, landlords must provide reasonable access to buildings, including functional elevators, for those who are disabled. Having all elevators out for an extended period is considered a violation.

Resident Mark Mullen is totally blind. He told 8News that living on the top floor and tending to his partner -- who is recovering from a knee injury -- has become even more difficult.

According to Mullen, said partner's knee injury was nearly healed when she fell trying to get up and down the stairs the first day of the outage. This fall left her injured knee feeling "worse than ever." Since then, she has been trapped in their apartment.

“I find it very disheartening that every email I get says, ‘Thank you for dealing with this inconvenience,’” Mullen said. “An elevator being out for a day is an 'inconvenience.' An elevator being out for a week in a building that absolutely must have functioning elevators is a big problem.” 

Mullen said he’ll have to find another place to live if problems continue.

“Our home is broke, our residence is broke and the stewards [management] overseeing it are just leaving us in the dark and don't appear to be being proactive," Mullen said.

Another resident, Laura Kay Sherman, echoed Mullen's frustrations.

"[The broken elevators are] keeping a lot of us in the apartment home, whereas we need to be getting out and doing things," she said.

Sherman added that she’s informed management of her impending ovarian surgery -- and their lack of communication is frustrating.

“I work in the industry, as well, and we've had things like this occur with our elevators -- but the person who services the elevator can always provide you with the date of service," Sherman said. "So, I'm confused as to why they're not sharing that with residents."

8News has reached out to management and the parent company, Gates Hudson, again after their email to tenants. We have not heard back as of the time of reporting.