Residents booted from Cottonwood apartment complex

Residents of Verde Plaza Apartments residents receive non-renewal notices

COTTONWOOD - The management company for a Cottonwood apartment complex is kicking out all of its residents.

Residents of Verde Plaza Apartments received non-renewal notices this week. For those who just signed new leases, they can stay until each lease expires. For others, the time to move is apparently now.

Some residents received letters dated March 1, telling them their deadline to move out is March 31.

The signed letters are from Julie Nylen, president of Landmark Management Group, Inc. in Scottsdale. There is an offer to help with free professional movers, as well as the provision that those with longer terms left on their leases can leave early if they choose.

Nylen has not returned phone calls from the Verde Independent.

Cottonwood City Manager Ron Corbin said there is a criminal action pending in Cottonwood Municipal Court involving the owners of the apartments. That action stems from defective stairs and balconies at the five apartment buildings on-site, he said.

Another offer Nylen pointed out in her letter was the option of upstairs tenants relocating to vacant downstairs units, on a first-come, first-served basis, for the duration of each lease.

“Based on an agreement reached in that case, Verde Plaza has committed to spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix these problems,” Corbin said. “It was anticipated that tenants might have to temporarily be relocated for a one-week period while work was conducted on each building.”

However, Corbin said, the apparent non-renewal of current leases by Verde Plaza is something management there has initiated on its own.  Such non-renewals is not required at all by the city, he said.

Nylen began her letter by saying the company had made the difficult decision to not renew any Verde Plaza leases, but did not explain why.

“We will do everything we can to make your move go as smoothly as possible,” she wrote.