
Tenants gathered outside an apartment complex damaged in a six-alarm fire in Fort Worth last month saying they are still not being allowed inside. The Cooper, an apartment building on Rosedale on the Near Southside, was damaged June 23.
Tenants have now hired lawyers as they seek entry to the building. Kaleb Godwin says they have sent letters to management seeking information.
"They have a deadline in these letters. If they choose to sit on their hands past the deadline, at that point, we're going to have to do what we have to do and get courts involved," he says.
Fellow attorney Katie Steele with Varghese Summersett describes "radio silence" from Lightbulb Capital, the owner of the complex, and the management firm, Cushman and Wakefield. She says tenants were told they could find discounted housing at other complexes under the same ownership, but when they try to act on those deals, they find they are not available.
"It's just a lack of sympathy and understanding," Steele says. "You would think they would be a little more understanding of our clients', and their tenants', situation. They're just not, quite frankly. That's just furthering the frustration these tenants are facing. 'I'm not here because I want to be here. I lost my home, and as a result, I need a place to live.'"
Tenants say management of the building has changed, but after the fire, they say Lightbulb Capital and Cushman and Wakefield promised damage reports from each unit.
"Those haven't come out," one says. "It just keeps being, 'We're working on it. We're working on it.' What, exactly, are you working on?"
"I feel like it's Groundhog Day," another says. "I'm buying things but doing it a little bit at a time because I don't know what's completely gone and what isn't."
Tenants say they cannot move forward with renter's insurance claims until they receive formal notice items cannot be retrieved or are a total loss. They would like Lightbulb Capital to intervene.
"They are uncommunicative to anybody," one says. "Now, we have to deal with the new management company, and we're dealing with the same answers we were getting before with the other property management. We're not being told we can go in. We're not being provided any information the building is unsafe. Yet they have people going throughout the buildings, and we're not allowed to go in and get our belongings."
A spokesperson for The Cooper described damage to the building as "extensive." The management firm had previously said apartments may not be damaged, but concerns existed about ways to reach the units. The company said "multiple expert teams are working diligently to conduct structural assessments, environmental testing and other investigations."
Wednesday afternoon, the management firm said tenants would be allowed to start retrieving their things Monday. The company said it would start reaching out to tenants individually.
"Our residents should know that they can continue to contact us at any time via phone or email or in person with any specific questions they might have. We are here to support them in any way that we can," the company wrote.
One tenant said previous calls and emails have gone unanswered.
Godwin, one of the lawyers working with tenants, says he hopes ownership and management would follow through and let tenants pick up their things before the deadline listed in their letter. If not, he says the case could go to court.
"We're preparing for the worst but hoping for the best. The ball's in their court," Godwin says. "There's never a wrong time for them to do the right thing."