ATLANTA — Residents of the Icon Midtown Apartments are banding together against their complex to discount their rent as they deal with a myriad of problems.
One resident, Ryan St. John, said there have been lingering issues after pipes burst in December. He showed our reporters what the current situation looks like.
"All the [trash chute] pipes are broken and there's just trash [everywhere], so on all of our floors, we have trash chutes in our doors so you can smell the trash," he said.
St. John said the hallways have become the new trash rooms because the chute has been broken for over a month. He adds that only one elevator in the 39-floor high rise works, while a second one intermittently functions.
"So just yesterday, my wife is trying to take our kids to school," he said. "She waited 20 minutes to get an elevator to go down and then another 20 minutes to try to come back. So that day, our kids were late to school because the elevators are being used."
He also explained their parking gate hasn't worked for a while, and that cars were broken into because of this. Amenities, including the gym, were closed, and he claimed residents weren't notified about when they would reopen.
"This is an example of one of the resident floors – they went through and cut out all the drywall, ripped up all the carpets and there’s really no timetable for when any of this stuff is going to get fixed – they just don’t respond to requests," he added.
St. John said residents have reached out repeatedly to property managers and owners of the complex but got the runaround.
That prompted him to start a petition -- asking for management to reduce their rent until things are fixed.
"Within a week we had 250 signatures," he said. "Clearly the sentiment in this building, everybody feels the same way about it."
A Facebook page created after the bursting pipes, shows residents posting daily pictures of their frustrations. He said they all want clarity, transparency and answers.
11Alive also reached out to property managers and owners about the problems multiple times since Wednesday and did not hear back.
"It's really aggravating. It's not so much that stuff happens, it's more about having a two-way dialogue," he said. "When we don't have two-way dialogue and we're still being asked to pay the full rent amount, I think that's outrageous. It's outrageous to me."
St. John said he has tried going to the office in person, and explained he was told they would only respond in written format. He proceeded to send emails and faxes but received no response.
"I don't think anybody here really wants to leave," he said. "I think we're being forced to leave. We just want to make sure we're treated fairly."