ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Residents at a St. Petersburg apartment complex say they’re frustrated and confused after receiving a notice from the city warning them that water service may be shut off in less than three weeks.
Tenants caught off guard
What we know:
The notice, dated Aug. 1, was issued by the City of St. Petersburg to tenants at The Morgan and Elements on Third, both owned by Lurin Real Estate Holdings, a Dallas-based company. The city says the company has failed to pay overdue utility bills despite months of warnings and attempts to resolve the debt.
More than 700 units in total are under threat of losing water service.
“I was super frustrated,” said Morgan resident Ashleigh Slaybaugh, who first contacted FOX 13 News over the weekend. “Why are our utilities getting cut off for something we’re already paying for?”
Slaybaugh says she and her husband have lived at The Morgan for a year and a half. She says they pay over $1,900 a month for a two-bedroom unit, and assumed utility costs were included in their rent.
“I want to know where my money’s going,” she said. “Is it being used for something else? Is it being pocketed? Because we were told all of that is part of our rent. So where is my money going if you’re not paying what needs to be paid?”
Pictured: Elements on Third. Courtesy: Lurin Real Estate Holdings.
Declining conditions
Dig deeper:
Beyond the threat of losing water, Slaybaugh said conditions at The Morgan have steadily declined over the past year.
“The pools aren’t maintained anymore. They look like swamps,” she said. “The gym has been closed the entire time we’ve lived here, supposedly for renovations. And for a while, they weren’t even doing any yard work. It looked like a forest out here.”
She also believes pest control may have stopped, based on recent bug issues in her apartment.
The notice from the city shocked many tenants, and Slaybaugh says neighbors have been talking about potential legal options if water is cut off. Some are asking whether they can break their lease without penalties.
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Management response and silence from the owner
In an email sent to residents after the city’s notice went out, The Morgan management team wrote:
“We are aware the City of St. Petersburg will/has issued a communication regarding a potential water service interruption. Please know that we are actively working with the city to address the matter and are doing everything we can to ensure there is no disruption to your water service.”
The city confirms it has received partial payments from the owner but says the Aug. 21 shutoff date remains in effect unless the full balance is paid.
Lurin Real Estate Holdings, which owns The Morgan and other Florida properties, appears to be under financial strain. In May, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported that the company is currently facing a $400 million foreclosure involving 12 apartment complexes across the state, including others in Tampa and the Panhandle.
The Morgan is one of dozens of properties Lurin has acquired in recent years, as part of a strategy to reposition and redevelop aging workforce housing. But residents like Slaybaugh say those promises aren’t lining up with reality. FOX 13 News has made multiple attempts to contact Lurin Real Estate Holdings via email. As of publication, the company has not responded.
The Source: This report is based on a written statement from the City of St. Petersburg, on-camera interviews with tenant Ashleigh Slaybaugh and an email sent to residents by The Morgan management team.