Heat It Up! A Fundraiser this Valentine’s Day

Support local renters in their fight against slumlords this Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14 at the Hexagon Bar in Minneapolis!

What: Fundraiser to raise money to purchase thermostats for local renters
Who: Local DJs and Bands: Jenny Dalton, Solid Gold (dj set), Cryns #3, and other special guests!
Where: Hexagon Bar in South Minneapolis (google map)
When: Feb. 14, 2009 – Valentine’s Day!
Cost: FREE! (We make a percentage of the drink sales)
Time: Music starts at 9 p.m.

Additional Information:
Help us promote the event!
About our cause

Got Heat?

Hey UPi,

With winter on its way and temperatures continuing to fall, AND with a new heat ordinance in effect, hopefully you all are warm in your apartments. If you are having issues with low or no heat currently, do ALL of the following in this order:

1) Contact UPi and let them know. If you call them, document the date, time, reason for the call, and who you talked to or if you left a message.  I would also advise that you write a letter to them as well stating your complaint. Make sure to keep a copy for your records!

2) Call Minneapolis 311 to put in the complaint

3) Call or email the Minneapolis Fire Marshal, Bryan Tyner at 612-673-3270 or bryan.tyner@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

4) Call or email your City Council Representative. There are links to find out who represents you on this blogsite.

5) Call or email me, Shawyn Lee, Tenant Organizer with Family & Children’s Service at 612-728-2040 or slee@fcsmn.org. Let me know your issue(s) and who you’ve contacted when. I keep a running file of all UPi complaints and issues. I also may have some other resources for you.

Keep checking this blogsite for updates. Also, if you have a story or some information pertaining to UPi and/or your experience as a renter, and would like it posted on this blogsite, please send me the text and/or photos. Also, indicate whether or not you would like your name and/or property address listed.

Thank you!

New Heat Ordinance!

Hey UPi,

A victory for all Minneapolis renters in regards to the seemingly never-ending debate about heat. Here’s the email I received from Councilmember Gary Schiff. I am hoping the hyperlinks work.

No/Low Heat in Rental Dwellings:

Subject matter of an ordinance amending Title 12, Chapter 244 of the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances relating to Housing: Maintenance Code, changing the mechanism for enforcing no or low heat in rental units from outside temperature to calendar dates (Remington and Gordon). (Refer to W&M/Budget)

Staff reports 4/9/2008: Ch 244 Heating Facilities ; Heating Facilities RCA

Action Taken 4/9/2008: Postponed two cycles (May 7th). Regulatory Services staff directed to review the energy consumption consequences of the ordinance, as well as the City’s own policies and procedures for responding to complaints. Health Department staff is directed to provide financial costs associated with the affect on children exposed to low temperatures for periods of time.

Staff reports 5/7/2008: Heating Facilities RCA; Low-No Heat Admin Fine Schedule Resl; Low-No Heat Average Daily Temperature; Low-No Heat Fire Dept Orders 2006; Low-No Heat Fire Dept Orders 2007 -2008; Low-No Heat Housing Inspections Orders 2007; Low-No Heat Housng Inspections Orders 2006; No-Low Heat – Comfortable Indoor Heat; No-Low Heat Complaints on Red Tagged Furnaces

Gordon Amendment No 1; Gordon Amendment No 2

No Heat Woes…again…

UPi tenants have been reporting being without heat for at least a week if not more. City officials are bing notified and intend to post all of the buildings that are currently without heat. It appears that all of the boilers have been shut off for the year, and one employee said that they cant turn them back on unless owner, Spiros Zorbalas, says it’s ok. As the City of Minneapolis continues to debate over the proposed change in the heat ordinance to a date range rather than based on outside air temperature, tenants continue to suffer. If you are without heat during this always in flux spring time season, please contact the Fire Marshall Bryan Tyner and your City Council representative. Send us a message too so we can post updates on our blog site to keep everyone up to date.

Former Tenant Review

Andrea is a former UPi tenant and she sent me a review of UPi that she wrote up and posted on another apartment review website. With her permission, I’ve copied it on to our website as well. Enjoy!

UPI properties provided my worst rental experience in Minneapolis, marked by endless frustrations and managerial snubs. I should have known better when, upon moving in, I spotted a note on the front door from one of tenants wondering why their oven had not been fixed in months. My first negative experience (besides the general poor upkeep of the fixtures in the apartment) occurred when I was left without electricity for four long days in December. Despite repeated calls to maintanance (mind you my electrical bill is always current), I received no response. I lived by lantern while they did goodness knows what. Then my toilet stopped working. I was made to use an empty apartment on the lower level whenever I needed to use to bathroom. This apartment was always kept unlocked, which is quite disconcerting in a less-than-safe neighborhood (good ol’ apartment B). My toilet was broken for the last 5 MONTHS of my tenancy. Despite many promises to come out to fix it, my toilet was still broken when I moved out (which, by the way, one is only allowed to do during certain months of the year). Then, as if I hadn’t already been subjected to enough, I heard meowing that got progressively louder over the course of a week. A momma cat had kittens in the side of the building in an area that should have been block off by a wire grate (it was broken, of course). One of her kittens had fallen 20 feet down a shaft. I was able to access this shaft from a painted over window in my kitchen (what they called a kitchen, at least). Being that I was on the second floor and unable to pry open the window on the ground floor apartment, I was unable to easily access the kitten. I called management and got an absolutely callous response. I was told to call back in five minutes while she “consulted with some co-workers.” I called back several times and of course the woman didn’t answer her phone for the rest of the day. After constructing a device out of a bucket filled with cat food and a bass amp cord, I was able to dangle the bucket down to the kitten. After a few hours of prodding and begging, the kitten finally crawled into the bucket. It was pulled up to safety and taken to a no-kill cat shelter. Geez. This company should have its rental license revoked. Take extreme caution before renting from these hacks. In fact, don’t rent from them at all. No need to perpetuate their ineptitude.

Heat Ordinance Change – Temps. to Dates

Here is an Email I received from Councilmember Remington’s Office regarding a change to the current heat ordinance referencing when heat gets turned on:

From: Malrick, Kim R.
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 1:34 PM
Subject: Proposed Ordinance ChangeAt this Friday’s council meeting CM Remington will give notice of intent to introduce an ordinance change regarding the heating requirements for residential rental buildings.  Current Regulations:  As it currently stands, landlords are required to provide heat in rental units (to the level of 68 degrees) when the outside temperature falls below 60 degrees.  It is regulatory services’s policy to start a 3 day clock once an insufficient heat situation is reported.  If the heat is not turned on within the 3 days the condemnation process begins.  If, at any time during the 3 day window, the outside temperature reaches 60 degrees or higher the clock starts over.Challenges with Current Regulations:  The current regulations prove frustrating for tenants and city staff when they are faced with a neglectful landlord.  Our daily temperature varies wildly during the spring and fall when it is quite common for temperatures to fall to the 30s at night and rise into the 60s during the day.  Therefore, it is difficult to successfully impose a 3 day clock and many tenants are left for extended periods of time without heat.Proposed Change:  CM Remington’s proposed change eliminates the 60 degree threshold entirely and, instead, works with the calendar year.  He is proposing that from October 1^st to May 1^st rental units have access to heat to 68 degrees.Timeline:  It is CM Remington’s goal to have this change in place before spring weather warms to the point where the 60 degree marker is in play once again.  Therefore, he will give notice of intent to introduce this cycle and actually introduce the proposal next cycle.  From there it will be referred to the Public Safety and Regulatory Services (PS&RS) committee for a public hearing.  There is not a requirement for notice to be sent to specific groups or individuals for housing code amendments, so once the date is set it will be noticed in Finance and Commerce and be available on the PS&RS agenda.  Additionally, our office will work to keep neighborhood associations informed of the public hearing date.Please let our office know if you have any questions about this proposal or would like to submit a comment for the public record.Thanks,

Kim Malrick

Ward 10 Policy Aide350 S. 5th Street, Rm 307Minneapolis, MN  55415Phone (612) 673-3314Fax (612) 673-3940

Letters to the Editor

Here are a couple of letters to the editor in response to City Pages’ article on Spiros and UPi:

Pillow talk with Spiros

I wanted to thank you for your article on slumlord Spiros Zorbalas (“The Slumlord of South Minneapolis,” 1/30/08). These issues are not made public enough and people like him need to be exposed. As a former tenant, I dealt with constant issues, from no heat in the winter, to broken appliances replaced with other broken appliances, to drug dealing, to no fire alarms, to ignored maintenance requests, to broken front doors, to poor building management, to a $200 “move-out” fee! How does he sleep at night? (I know: on a bed of money.) Thanks again.

Dan Minneapolis

A former UPi employee speaks out

I commend you for bringing to light the slumlord of south Minneapolis. As an employee of UPi for nearly a year, I experienced firsthand how this man operates his business. I was the onsite person for a Loring Park property, where I dealt with many of the issues that you outlined in your story. There was even an individual there who committed suicide, and Spiros did not refund his deposit for his apartment to his parents because proper move-out notice wasn’t given. As the onsite manager, I had to deal with the lack of heat and hot water complaints on a regular basis, mostly late fall and wintertime. Not only did I have to hear them, but I was a victim of lack of heat, too, because with no heat in apartments, there was no heat in the main office, either, and I spent many days there with a jacket and a ski hat on, trying to stay warm.

Greg H. St. Paul

The Latest City Pages Article on UPi and Spiros Zorbalas

Check out the latest City Pages story on Spiros Zorbalas and UPi:

http://articles.citypages.com/2008-01-30/feature/the-slumlord-of-south-minneapolis/full/

1999 City Pages Article…not much’s changed!

Click the link to read a City Pages article that came out in 1999. Sadly, it doesnt sound like alot has changed.

 http://articles.citypages.com/1999-12-29/books/rent/full/

 Another City Pages article should be out in this week’s edition of the publication and available online this afternoon. I’ll post it once it’s up.

UPI Building Has No Heat – Follow-up

Here’s a follow-up story about the previously-mentioned news story about a UPI apartment building in Minneapolis with inadequate heat: