Recently, the Reno City Council held a community meeting at Vintage at the Crossings, a senior housing complex whose tenants are organizing for better maintenance and against unfair fees. Councilmembers Duerr and Anderson spoke to tenants, as well as Mayor Schieve and several members of the city staff. Several representatives from Vintage Housing, which owns the complex, and Asset Living, the property manager, were also present at the meeting.

Tenants voiced many concerns about the maintenance of their units, the security of the building, and fears of retaliation from management for speaking up. The property managers responded with many promises to be better going forward, but residents asked if that would last past the meeting. Vintage will now be required to give monthly updates at City Council meetings about their progress. Mayor Schieve has written a letter to Attorney General Aaron Ford asking his office to investigate FPI management, which was purchased by Asset Living, now the second largest property management company in the US.

Vintage has hired a crisis PR firm during this period of increased attention, and they purchased a large number of branded cookies to go with the event. Maybe that money could have been spent on repairing tenants’ apartments.

We will share more updates from the Vintage at the Crossings tenants as they continue to fight for their rights to clean and safe housing.