City addresses DeLand apartment complex with thousands in code enforcement violations

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DELAND, Fla. — A DeLand apartment complex has racked up more than $60,000 in code enforcement violations. We first went to Hunters Creek Apartments off Spring Garden Avenue in September of last year. Since then, a new property manager has taken over, but a city spokesperson told Eyewitness News the issues still have not been addressed.

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We went to the leasing office Friday to ask for a timeline for repairs.

“I don’t have an exact timeline. Like I said, we’ve only been here since April 18th. So we have acquired quite a bit of repairs and placements of things that need to get done,” said Community Manager Cheyanne Williams.

Overgrown landscaping, a pool without water, no air conditioning, water and gas leaks are just a handful of the issues we have heard about.

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Denise Green showed us mold in her bathroom and added her water bill recently spiked due to a leak in her sink. She claims she called maintenance and no one ever showed up to help.

“No offense to the project because thiers is maintained by the city or whatever but it just looks like nobody cares,” said Green.

The city hopes the new owners make the necessary repairs. If not, the city will look into what steps can be taken to get the property up to code.

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Full statement from the city:

Since late 2023, the city has worked diligently to address complaints from residents regarding living conditions at Hunter’s Creek apartments. Through actions of the Building, Fire and Code Enforcement departments, the city works to ensure that properties are maintained in accordance with Florida Building and Fire codes and the International Property Maintenance Code. Site visits conducted in 2023 allowed city staff to identify various code violations including among others, water leaks, faulty water heaters, inoperable fire alarm systems, gas leaks, unmaintained pool and landscaping that the owners of the complex were required to address. Other issues such as functioning air conditioning units cannot be mandated by the city via code enforcement as it is not required by state law, however, the owner committed to replacing all the faulty units.

At the time of our initial site visit, the management company, Spring Arbor Managers, LLC, had indicated it would remedy the problems at the complex and progress had been made towards achieving that goal. Recently, new owners have taken over the property and have not followed through with completing the required repairs and have neglected routine maintenance. As a result, the property has amassed $63,500 in outstanding fines and new code enforcement cases have been initiated.

Our goal is that the new owners of the property will resolve the outstanding code violations. If that does not happen, the city will assess what other options will be taken to achieve compliance.

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