BEMIDJI — Images of an apartment complex with broken windows, unsecured entrances and vandalism, are the last thing that anyone in Bemidji wants to see.
But as tenants and housing advocates draw attention to the deteriorating conditions at Pine Ridge and Century Apartments it’s getting harder and harder to look away.
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The situation at the apartment complexes, one located on Pine Ridge Avenue Northwest and the other on Washington Avenue South — both operated by Tandem Property Management out of Moorhead, Minn. — has been declining for at least a year, according to Bemidji nonprofit Housing Matters.
The organization has several clients housed in the apartments and has been trying to address these issues with the property owners and the city, alongside raising awareness in the community.
So far, it hasn’t been satisfied with the response.
“We’ve been reporting the concerns to the landlords, to the city, with little response or follow through that we know of,” said Graham Hensel, Housing Matters’ program director. “We can’t just watch, there needs to be responsibility, from the property managers and owners, from the city, and people in our community.”
The issues raised have been numerous, ranging from regular maintenance that hasn’t been conducted to entries that have had their locks jammed or taped over leaving buildings unsecured.
“Laundry room doors are kicked out, damaged, there’s gang graffiti. The whole property is in disarray,” Hensel said.
Hensel and others at Housing Matters have regularly tried to contact Tandem about these concerns but with little success. Phone calls go unanswered and without an option to leave a voicemail, and letters and notices haven’t garnered a response.
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“We’ll send letters talking about putting rent in escrow, we’ve paid for maintenance and asked for reimbursement, we send online and written notices about maintenance needs,” Hensel explained. “There’s not a lot of response.”
Tenants at the properties have an equally hard time getting in contact with management when concerns need to be addressed.
Mary DeMaio, a resident at Pine Ridge, volunteered to do maintenance for her building, something she’s not paid for and does with supplies she purchases herself. When she tries to call Tandem, she also does not get a response.
“I’ve gotten no phone calls back, no responses,” she said. “There’s only so much I can do. (The owners) have just let things go, it’s becoming unlivable for humans.”
Some of the issues DeMaio shared included a broken washing machine that had water sitting in it for almost two months before she helped drain it, and an apartment across from hers that had sewage backup into the unit twice because plumbing repairs weren’t made properly.
“I’m mad because a lot of people are suffering needlessly, not just me but other tenants,” DeMaio said.
City response
The one group that can connect with the property owners seems to be the city, whose rental department has been attempting to raise the concerns with Tandem and see them addressed. But even the city has limits on actions it can take.
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“There’s only so many things we have ordinance to enforce,” explained Richard Spiczka, Bemidji’s city manager. “We’re going to stay on top of it and make sure those things are happening.”
Spiczka shared that conversations are occurring between city staff, property management and the tenants and that at this point the city is trying to maintain those discussions and support the owners in completing the necessary repairs.
“I think (the owners) have been relatively responsive, the toughest part is addressing the concerns,” he said.
While the city can enforce items related to health and safety, such as fire extinguishers or smoke alarms, concerns like damaged washing machines and unsecured entrances are outside of its realm of influence.
But even for things the city can’t enforce, it passes those complaints on to the property owners.
“We say ‘Hey, we heard this. It might not fit under the purview of the ordinance but we’re making you aware as the landlord,’” explained Katie Nolting, Bemidji’s city attorney. “We’re going to give the landlord time to remedy the situation before we start throwing fines or removing rental licenses.”
One of the larger problems at Pine Ridge and Century Apartments seems to be how long repairs last. A door can be rekeyed, but if it’s taped or jammed open the problem remains.
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With seemingly no easy solution, tenants are left feeling frustrated and vulnerable in their homes.
“I’m going to invest in another lock for the inside of my door because I’ve had people jiggle my doorknob in the middle of the night,” DeMaio shared. “I don’t always feel safe.”
The lack of improvement also brings up fears that Pine Ridge and Century Apartments are going the way Ridgeway Court Apartments did in 2022, where conditions become so unsafe that the buildings have to be shut down.
“My worry, the worry of my agency and the worry of the tenants is that it’s going to go that direction really fast,” Hensel said. “My biggest fear is that we’re going to have another hundred people needing housing in a community that has no housing.”
For the city’s part, it doesn’t see the problems with the apartments reaching the level of Ridgeway, at least at this point.
“I think the public safety concerns that exist now, they’re not as highly sensitive as the public safety situation that existed at Ridgeway,” Spiczka said.
It also shared that shutting down a building by pulling its rental license would be a last resort.
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“If you (pull a rental license) you’re displacing someone. If you have to do that to keep somebody safe then you do that, but you don’t want to take that step unless there’s no choice,” said Mayor Jorge Prince. “As a city, we’re always working with property owners to try and find a solution to get things back on track so that’s not an action that needs to be taken.”
Moving forward
The city plans to continue working with the property owners to address the situation and keep in communication with its other partners.
It also encouraged tenants to continue to reach out with their concerns, sharing that while the city might not be able to help with a specific issue, it can connect tenants to other resources like who might be able to assist.
“It’s a good thing to communicate (issues to the city), because even if we can’t help we might say ‘We can’t do that, but here’s who can,’” Prince said. “Within what we can do as a city we’re aware and we’re working hard to impact the situation as best we can.”
Meanwhile, Housing Matters and other community organizations are working to educate tenants on their rights and what options are available to them.
“When you’re living in bad housing and you have bad experiences, it’s hard to make that change and stand up for yourself. It’s easier to say ‘I have a house, I’m safe enough, on the streets is worse,’” Hensel said. “Our goal is trying to educate the tenants on what their rights are.”
Housing Matters is also trying to raise awareness within the community, both about the specific problems at Pine Ridge and Century Apartments and the broader issues they’re emblematic of.
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“Homelessness is huge, the housing crisis is huge,” Hensel said. “We need people to step up, offer housing and be good landlords and property owners.”
For DeMaio, she just hopes that things improve, and to help with that she’s actively working to empower her neighbors.
“(A lot of the tenants) don’t know their rights so they just suck it up and take it. They’re afraid that they’ll be evicted or kicked out if they say something,” she said.
She also wants the property owners to take responsibility and keep up their property.
“Get off your butts and do your job. You’ve made this investment, now take care of it,” DeMaio said in reference to the property owners. “There’s people living in it, not animals.”
The Pioneer reached out to Tandem Property Management for comment but received no response.
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