Residents of Paradise Lakes in Bellevue received automated emails Tuesday night that raised some eyebrows. The emails were a bill for April's rent. The only problem...the neighborhood is still under water and unlivable.
Resident Jay Schouler tells NewsRadio 1110 KFAB that thankfully, the emails were sent by mistake. "So that kinda gave a little sigh of relief, although management is not really allowing any residents to contact them directly via phone. They're not answering their phone, it just goes right to voicemail."
Schouler says the automated bills went out after Bellevue Police asked Paradise Lakes, which had disabled its resident portal to prevent it from billing residents for April's rent, for a list of its tenants. In order to comply with the BPD request, the company had to turn on the portal, which then generated an automated message letting residents know that rent was due.
So although the rent bill went out in error, Schouler says the main issue is still the lack of communication with management. He says although he owned the home he had in Paradise Lakes, management owned the land the house was on. Schouler wants out of his land lease due to the flood damage, but management isn't making it easy. "We have our lease agree that says after a major damage, that we have fourteen day to send a letter to the managers saying that we terminate our lease. So we have taken that step, but when we went to the post office to mail it, they said that management is refusing to pick up their certified letters at the post office."
This is the first time Schouler has experienced an issue with the management at Paradise Lakes, but other residents say this isn't the first time they've had problems with management. "For us, we never had a problem. Other people might have complaints, but I have not had any run-ins with them."
Schouler says management is reportedly trying to asses how to move forward, hence the lack of communication. "They're not communicating with us because they say everything is up in the air and they don't have answers right now."
Paradise Lakes told tenants they will not be charged April's rent.