asu in the news 02-06-08 to - ASU News - Arizona State University

ASU in the News
have there," Tolman said, noting that it’s not always easy to convince low-rent property owners to fix
things.
"You know, when we manage as many properties as we manage, you’re going to miss a violation
here or there."
Tolman says that his business is not a detriment to sprucing up the city’s west side. He says his
company encourages property owners to make improvements, like a new paint job on a run-down
apartment building.
But lately, there have been serious problems for some of Tolman’s tenants.
Butler said her cockroach infestation still hasn’t been eradicated, despite recent intervention by the
Maricopa County Environmental Services Department.
An inspector for the department visited Butler’s apartment on Nov. 14 and observed "live and dead
roaches ... in kitchen cabinets, floors, wall and bathroom," according to a department report. The
inspector called JMT and said the problem needed to be fixed "immediately."
As for the air conditioner, Tolman said a contractor was dispatched to Butler’s apartment in July,
August and again in December. Tolman acknowledged there were problems with the air conditioning
but said the unit was replaced.
"I don’t know how long they were without air conditioning," he said. "Every time we have been
notified, we send someone out."
Michelle Fox, a tenant in Four Peak Estates at 2650 E. McKellips Road, is in limbo right now. JMT
Management oversaw her unit before four buildings in the complex owned by a California real estate
investor were placed in foreclosure.
Tolman said the bank began posting the foreclosure notices on units in the complex "sometime in
December," and that he did not know the foreclosure proceedings had begun months earlier.
Many of the tenants in the 16 units moved out in December, some inevitably losing out on some of
that month’s rent - possibly as much as $4,800 collectively, Tolman estimated.
Tolman said he was torn about what to advise tenants to do when the foreclosure notices began
popping up.
Since the property could have been cleared from foreclosure by the owner, Tolman’s boss, it would
have been a bad business move that could have exposed him to a lawsuit had he advised tenants to
move out, despite the risk to them if they stayed, he said.
"There’s a contract signed with the property owner - it’s a balancing act," he said. "It’s nothing
personal; it’s just business."
Fox, for her part, is staying in her apartment at Four Peaks Estates, although it’s unclear what the
future holds.
She said she had heard nothing about the foreclosure and recently worked a deal to put city water
service in her name so that it would not be shut off, which would have left her apartment unlivable.
It required a member of her church to pay a $300 deposit and overdue fees on the water, she said.
Her options are limited if things don’t work out in the transfer of the property to new owners. The
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