Tenants of Niantic apartment complex face up to $900 monthly rent hike
Jul. 15—EAST LYME — Jean Church lived in a house in Waterford for 65 years before downsizing to a Niantic apartment more than two years ago. Now she's trying to figure out her rights as an elderly tenant facing a rent increase of more than $800.
She and other renters who gathered last week at the Windward Village complex on Main Street said they didn't want to leave the community that comprises 60 units and where elderly residents make up about two-thirds of the tenants.
The remaining tenants in the 25-year-old building are working professionals who they say are the type to clear snow from retired neighbors' vehicles when winter comes.
"I've never been in a town with people who greet you on the street. They talk to you like they've known you for years," Church said. "Who the heck wants to move?"
About 40 residents had gathered in a tight hallway to decry monthly rate hikes of $800 to $900 after the Shelton-based real estate investment firm Alpha Capital Funds purchased the complex on June 20 for $8.4 million, according to the assessor's database.
The firm on social media described its off-market purchase from previous owner Demetrios Orphanides as a deal two years in the making.
Alpha Capital founder and CEO Tyler Smith, who started the company in 2017 as a Quinnipiac University dropout, said on social media that proceeds from short-term wholesale real estate investing strategies across 12 states led to flipping houses in Connecticut and then to buying apartment buildings. He said getting to know existing tenants is part of the firm's business plan.
"We would go in, we would renovate, we would make the things nicer, we'd improve the communities and we would refinance our money out and we would continue to buy," he said.
The company boasts 380 units across the state, including a New London acquisition last month with 45 units in three buildings.
Church said her lease expires in April on the apartment where she lives with her daughter, who has an intellectual disability.
"I don't know how I'm going to stay here," she said.
The problem is more immediate for tenant Tony Harris now that the lease is up on the two-bedroom apartment where she lives with one child and currently pays $1,450 a month. She was initially told she had 30 days to vacate the apartment.
She recalled asking the property manager why she was being thrown out.
"What is it about me? What have I done wrong? Because I've always paid my rent on time," she said.
That's when she was offered a new lease for an additional $800. She took it because she couldn't find anything cheaper in the area.
Harris said she gets $1,700 a month in Social Security payments stemming from a 2017 car crash in Salem that left her disabled.
"I have two weeks to come up with $2,250," she said. "What do I do?"
Addressing expectations
Smith in an emailed statement to The Day said the management staff's first priority is to introduce themselves and learn about the community, addressing each tenant's concerns and expectations from the outset.
He said raising the rent is necessary to "support, maintain, and improve the property" to meet high standards and provide a safe environment.
"Our dedicated team, including property managers and maintenance technicians, is on hand to address any concerns and work collaboratively with tenants to make this transition as smooth as possible," he said.
But tenant Judy Plouffe said there hasn't been much evidence of communication with tenants or ongoing maintenance such as vacuuming, emptying garbage cans or maintaining the lawn. In one case, she said an elderly tenant was without air conditioning for three weeks before the situation was resolved.
"It seems like they're just ruthless management," she said. "They only care about money, and they don't care about the people."
Tenant Eileen Predmore put it this way: "I think what they counted on was that every one of us would go," she said. "I believe they think we're disposable."
Deputy Fire Marshal Erik Quinn on Monday said the town was alerted July 9 by a resident that the building's fire alarm was not working.
He said officials were not able to get in contact with anybody from the company until 9 a.m. the next day because an updated emergency contact form had not been filled out.
As required by state fire code any time a fire alarm is out of service for more than four hours, a firefighter and a fire truck are dispatched to the property to keep an eye on the situation. The fire watch lasted from 8 p.m. that evening until 3 p.m. the next day, when the situation with the alarm was resolved.
The company will be billed for the expense at roughly $75 per hour, Quinn said.
The strategy
Smith in a June 10 social media video underscored the company's strategy of holding onto buildings for their long-term value when he said it has only sold two. He said 24 units in Hartford were unloaded because taxes spiked after a revaluation and because "tenant quality" was deficient.
"The tenant basis where we were was not up to our standards. We like to have young professionals," he said.
Smith in a May 23 video described a property his company purchased about 2.5 years ago in Wallingford for $2.1 million. Rents there were going for about $1,000 in an area where comparable apartments could fetch upward of $1,800, he said.
He recounted putting about $500,000 of work into the building and almost doubling rental rates within a year.
"With the month-to-month tenants, we put a new tenant basis in there," he said. The building appraised at $5.6 million when the company refinanced after 18 months.
Smith in his statement said the company values its tenants and strives to balance their needs with the operational costs required to maintain and enhance the buildings.
"We are exploring various ways to support our tenants during this transition and remain open to dialogue to address their concerns," he said.
Fair rent
State law for the past 40 years has sought to protect residents who are 62 or older, as well as those with disabilities, by specifying landlords can only raise rent by a reasonable amount. Determining what constitutes "reasonable" is up to the local Fair Rent Commission, if there is one.
The town, with a population of 18,788, doesn't have a Fair Rent Commission. A 2023 state law that requires the formation of one only applies to towns with more than 25,000 residents.
Beth Sabilia, director of the Center for Housing Equity and Opportunity Eastern CT, told the tenants gathered last week that their remaining option under state law is to sue the landlord.
"So if you are 62 or disabled and you are facing an unreasonable rent increase, your recourse is through court," she said.
When several residents said their calls for free advice from the New London office of Connecticut Legal Services went unanswered, she promised to help in her role as the leader of the region's new housing advocacy group.
"That's part of why I'm here, to try and break through those barriers for people," she said.
First Selectman Dan Cunningham, whose mother-in-law is a resident of the apartment complex, on Monday said he's heard from several tenants who told him it would be impossible for them to continue living there once their leases expire.
He said it's time to talk with the Board of Selectmen about updating local ordinances to establish a Fair Rent Commission.
"I do favor seriously considering the Fair Rent Commission," he said. "And I'm seriously looking into it."
