Complaint Review: City Gate - Sares-Regis Group

City Gates management has intentionally withheld knowledge of a recent crime spree on their grounds, which may have directly resulted in substantial financial loss and emotional damage to me, my family, and possibly other tenants. By withholding this information, Iand possibly my fellow tenantswere never provided with the adequate knowledge necessary to protect ourselves.

To my knowledge, the City Gate apartment complex in Denver, Colorado, is owned and managed by Sares-Regis Group. According to the press released issued when Sares-Regis Group purchased CityGate in 2007, The SARES-REGIS Group is one of the leading developers and managers of commercial and residential real estate in the western United States.

Currently, the company has more than 6.5 million square feet of commercial properties valued at $500 million and over 2,800 residential units under development. SARES-REGIS Group has a combined portfolio of property and fee-based management contracts valued at more than $4 billion, including 13,000 rental apartments and 15 million square feet of commercial and industrial space.

Since its inception the company has acquired or developed approximately 44 million square feet of commercial properties and 19,000 multifamily and residential housing units. Sares-Regis Group is headquartered in Irvine, California, and has regional offices in Denver and Phoenix.

According to srgliving.com, Sares-Regis Groups Mission Statement is: Our mission is to create a high quality living experience for our customers by combining innovation, value and personalized service. We believe that the level of our residents satisfaction is the measure of our performance. Outstanding performance ensures our success as we commit to superior customer service and the highest standards of integrity.

In my experience, City Gates on-site management staff explicitly states the apartment complex is a no- to low-crime property. Security and safety is at least implied in such statements.

During a 34-day period beginning December 31, 2007, there were nine burglaries/larcenies.

According to the Denver Police Department, multiple instances of breaking and entering and burglary/larceny have occurred at the City Gate apartment complex during the month of July 2008.

My apartment was burglarized in July 2008, AFTER some of these previous incidents. It was violently broken into resulting in felony larceny. Four days later I was made aware of another burglary in the complex, the crime having been perpetrated in the same manner. It is unknown if any others occurred in the four intervening days or since the latter burglary. It IS known that these two burglaries were perpetrated in the same manner as previous others. A Denver Police detective confirmed an incident three days prior to the burglary of my residence was also perpetrated in the same manner.

I did not learn any of this information until AFTER a felony crime was committed against my property. I did not learn any of this information from the City Gate on-site management staff nor from Sares-Regis Group. Immediately following the burglary of my apartment, on-site management staff told me, This has never happened. When a fellow tenant called on-site management staff, she was told when she asked about the recent burglaries in the complex, There havent been any. After the tenant said she had direct knowledge of one, she was told, Oh yes, there has been one, but it was no big deal.

Jennifer Nessett, Vice President of the Denver Region, said that since Sares-Regis Group is not responsible for their tenants safety, they will not be posting any signs or notices.

The day of the latest burglary mentioned above, less than 24 hours after Ms. Nessett made these statements, the on-site management staff posted flyers that read as follows:

ATTENTION ALL RESIDENTS
WE HAVE EXPERIENCED 3 BREAK-INS INTO APARTMENTS WITHIN THE LAST TWO WEEKS. ALL OF THESE HAVE BEEN DURING THE DAYTIME. IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR INTRUSION ALARM ACTIVATED, PLEASE CONTACT THE LEASING OFFICE.

There are 241 units in the complex, according to the acquisition press release. I counted only FOUR of the flyers on the first floor.

Another burglary occurred within hours of the posting of the flyers, too late to prevent yet another incident. That means by my count there have been at least four in two weeks. Somehow it went from there havent been any to at least four. And mine was no big deal, despite it being grand larceny that has shaken me and my family.

While I cannot speak about the other crimes, at least a portion of my loss could have been avoided if the on-site management staff and/or Sares-Regis Group informed all tenants that these crimes were happening. The on-site management staff regularly distributes professionally-printed flyers to all tenants. A simple photo-copied noticed could have been printed and distributed to every tenant in a matter of minutes. Instead, they waited until a string of seemingly related incidents occurred, and even then posted minimal notice for the tenants.

In addition, had the on-site management staff or Sares-Regis Group ever notified me that the Intrusion Alarm mentioned above could have been activated free of charge, I would have had another layer of protection that may have prevented any loss to my property. And finally, had the on-site management staff or Sares-Regis Group taken one final action I feel they are and have been aware of, my particular incident would almost certainly have been prevented.

Simply put, the on-site management staff, quite possibly at the instruction of Sares-Regis Group, has avoided informing their tenants of calculated patterns of serious criminal activity in the City Gate apartment complex. They may have been withholding important information in order to avoid bad publicity, at the expense of my and my fellow tenants safety and security of our person and property.

Sares-Regis Group is hiding behind their leasing documents stating they are not responsible for anyones property or safety. Their withholding of known criminal activity may have resulted in potentially avoidable losses to their tenants. It has certainly compromised my property and peace of mind. And it certainly is not living up to its Mission Statement: Our mission is to create a high quality living experience for our customers by combining innovation, value and personalized service.

We believe that the level of our residents satisfaction is the measure of our performance. Outstanding performance ensures our success as we commit to superior customer service and the highest standards of integrity. And while they may not be responsible for maintaining my security and safety, theyalong with the criminals themselvescertainly are responsible for my feelings of LACK OF security and safety.

On Thursday, July 17, 2008, a discussion with Jennifer Nessett, Vice President of the Denver Region, was held in an attempt to obtain minimal indemnity from Sares-Regis Group for losses potentially caused by their intentional withholding of information. Ms. Nessett would consider no agreement.

NOTE:
According to www.labbb.org (the Better Business Bureau), Sares-Regis Group (Irvine, California) has received a Company Rating of F. This means: We strongly question the companys reliability for reasons such as that they have failed to respond to complaints, their advertising is grossly misleading, they are not in compliance with the laws licensing or registration requirements, their complaints contain especially serious allegations, or the companys industry is known for its fraudulent business practices.

Unsafe Tenant
Denver, Colorado
U.S.A.