MEMPHIS, Tenn — Tuesday was supposed to be a major step forward for Memphis renters as residents at Memphis Towers were set to meet face-to-face with the property owner to voice their many concerns.
“It’s time for them to stop stepping on our necks,” said resident Joyce Warren. “They don’t pay us, we pay them.”
Members of the Memphis Towers Tenants Union and the Memphis Tenants Union were supposed to meet with the leadership of property owner Millennia Management. But they did not show up.
“(I’m) disappointed but not entirely surprised that they chose not to send the higher-ups from their headquarters in Cleveland to meet with us,” said Becky, who has lived at the apartment complex for roughly one year. “That was indicated to us to be a desire of theirs.”
The situation left local managers to speak for ownership, while other residents and the media watched over Zoom.
But as soon as they realized that members of the press were watching, they shut everything down.
“I asked what was wrong with the press being there.” Warren said. “They can hear us, why can’t they hear y'all? Because then they can be held accountable. They don’t want to be held accountable for the lies they told. They told too many.”
The tenants had a list of five demands: hire 24-7 security, start using key cards, make sure all emergency buzzers work, stop bullying tenants and be honest about promised renovations.
“I got mold in my apartment upstairs in my apartment, in my tub,” said Mary Godwin. “Mold is not dirt. It is not dust. Mold is mold. And they don’t want you all to see that.”
Becky said she was given a fabricated lease violation on the day she went with several of her comrades to deliver their demand letter regarding their security concerns to management.
“Because I'm totally blind, I have an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act to have notices like that emailed to me. They did not comply with that," Becky said.
Tenants said they plan on bringing this up again at the next Health Educational and Housing meeting next week.
“The fact that they stopped the meeting before they could really be held accountable in any kind of public way was an indication that they never intended to cooperate with us in the first place,” Becky said.
ABC24 reached out to Memphis Towers, but they declined to comment. ABC24 reached out to Millenia Management, which is based in Cleveland, Ohio and also owns Serenity Towers and Hope Heights in Memphis.
On Wednesday, Interim President of Operations Arthur Krauer sent ABC24 the following response:
"The meeting was requested by the Memphis Towers’ Tenants Union (MTTU) and Millennia Housing Management wanted to meet with the MTTU to increase communications. When the meeting was arranged, the MTTU stated who would be present and arranged for the meeting to be in-person and via Zoom.
Millennia had the senior representative who manages the Memphis portfolio for the corporate office in-person and had senior executives on-line who were available to discuss all issues. The day before the meeting, the MTTU dictated that only in-person people would be permitted to speak. This was not agreed upon by Millennia and is not in the spirit of open communications. Further, in today’s environment where the use of Zoom has become the norm, to dictate that people must be in person to speak is not reasonable.
In addition, once the call started, Millennia did discover that there were several news outlets on the call. Millennia is unsure who shared the Zoom invitation with the media, but this was intended to be a private meeting.
Millennia, as stated by its representative, remains willing to meet with the MTTU in a private setting to allow for a fruitful and open conversation."