Mold, cockroaches and rats: Modesto puts apartment complex on notice over repairs

The city has put the owner of a 168-unit apartment complex in west Modesto on notice that it needs to bring the complex up to code or face civil penalties of $1,000 a day.

Building Safety Program Coordinator Bert Lippert posted copies of what is called a notice and order Friday morning throughout the Suncrest Apartments at Paradise Road and near James Marshall Park.

This comes as Modesto talks about establishing a rental inspection program or a rental registry program. The goal would be to ensure rental housing meets basic health and safety standards, such as being free of vermin and having working plumbing.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey estimated in 2016 that Modesto had 31,903 units of occupied rental housing, including single-family homes, apartment complexes and other types of housing. That’s 45 percent of the city’s housing stock.

Modesto investigated 300 cases of rental housing suspected of not meeting code last year based on complaints from renters, neighbors and others. Officials say tenants can be reluctant to complain for fear of retaliation from their landlords.

But Lippert inspected three Suncrest apartments after a tenant complained about her living conditions during the second of two public outreach meetings the city held last month regarding the proposed rental inspections.

Several tenants who are working with Faith in the Valley — which helps disadvantaged communities — recently have complained to The Bee about cockroaches, rats, mold, and water damage to bathroom walls. They also said repairs are not being made, or if they are made, they are inadequate.

Lippert’s inspection of the three apartments found such problems as missing smoke detectors, cockroaches, mold, and incomplete repairs to a bathroom ceiling, according to the notice and order. The stove was missing in one apartment, and the tenant was using two hot plates connected to a butane tank for cooking.

There also is dry rot in the complex, sagging roofs, and loose railings along stairs and second story passageways.

The notice and order spells out all the steps the owner must take. That includes an inspection by a licensed exterminator regarding the extent of the rodent and cockroach infestation and have them professionally exterminated if needed, reports from licensed contractors regarding whether the electrical, mechanical and electrical systems are in good order as well as a report from a licensed environmental company regarding mold.

Modesto wants to conduct additional inspections, including of all of the apartments. The notice and order calls for the owner to meet with the city and come up with a plan to carry out repairs based on the inspections and reports.

Lippert said if the owner does not comply, the city can impose a $1,000 a day penalty for each violation. But he said the city has limited that to $1,000 per day, with a maximum of $100,000 per year.

A San Jose-based limited liability corporation called Northern Suncrest Apartments owns the apartment complex. A message left with the owner through the complex’s assistant manager was not returned.

The notice cited a lack of maintenance as the cause of the problem. But assistant manager Alex Gumayagay and David Moreno, the head of security at the complex, said repairs are being made.

For instance, Gumayagay said they provide glue traps and cans of Raid for tenants who have rats and cockroaches, though that is far less than what the city is requiring in its notice and order. “We are always doing maintenance, every day,” Gumayagay said.

They pointed to such repairs as replacing older, aluminum-framed windows with double-paned ones, replacing the eaves on one of the complex’s 18 buildings, and putting in new fencing and appliances.

Gumayagay said rents range from $625 a month for a one-bedroom apartment to $780 a month for a three-bedroom apartment. That includes utilities except for electricity.

He said the complex provides affordable housing for about 1,000 men, women and children. Gumayagay said the complex is limited in how many repairs it can do because its budget and staffing are limited.

“We do everything we can for the (tenants),” Moreno said. “But we’re in the west side of Modesto. And you know how bad the west side of Modesto is.”

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This story was originally published August 3, 2018 at 3:09 PM.