Apartment Properties

As foreclosures of owner occupied homes hit record highs, there are several other types of foreclosures that are hitting the marketplace as well. Apartment complexes managed by large companies that made acquisitions through highly leverage debt programs are now in default. Many have neglected to pay for services and utilities at the properties they supposedly manage. Garbage pick-up, electric, water and gas utilities and landscaping services have gone unpaid and resulted in many tenants facing shutoffs even though they have paid their lease payments on time.

The problem is they have very little recourse with utilities or the other services because their names are not on the contracts. In many cases, local authorities and agencies have stepped in to keep utilities on while the various management companies’ finances are being sorted out. Some residents have stepped up and handled landscaping and lawn care themselves and formed tenant associations to promote their cause with utilities and local social agencies as well. Until the commercial and apartment real estate situations can sort themselves out through property sales or bankruptcy proceedings, these kinds of situations will replay themselves across the country.

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