Is it enough? South Bend apartment complex settles complaints after loss of heat, hot water

SOUTH BEND — Some Cedar Glen Apartment Homes tenants who suffered lack of heat and/or hot water in their apartments earlier this year and parts of last year have received restitution, in the form of rental credits, from the complex's owners.

Some tenants told The Tribune they felt they deserved more than the standard $192 credit given all affected residents who still live there, and they point out many of those affected have moved out and received nothing.

The credits were negotiated with the help of the Portage Township Trustee's office and the the Indiana Attorney General , who became aware of the tenants' issues in the January and February of 2024. The township's legal counsel issued a letter to the owners of Cedar Glen apartments listing four conditions that must be met to avoid legal action:

● Provide restitution to affected residents

● Provide restitution to the Township

● Permit the formation of a tenant’s association

● Agree to a compliance period

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"The complex has agreed to written assurances of compliance to be overseen by the Indiana Attorney General’s office, and a total of $10,600 in rental credits were distributed to the affected tenants," a Portage Township press release said.

“Rental credits will only be provided to the people who are currently still living there,” Portage Township Trustee Jason Critchlow said. The rental credits are managed through MAH Cedar Glen, LP. Credits were issued on Aug. 8.

Tenant Todd Bogunia, president of the Cedar Glen tenants committee since February 2024, said he experienced a lack of livable utilities for 14 months total — two winters in a row without heat, hot water or plumbing backup. Bogunia, who overcame homelessness seven years ago, said he consistently pays rent on time.

Bogunia's experience started in November 2022, when he came home and wanted to take a hot shower, he said. The hot water wasn’t working. Every day, he says, he’d ask when the hot water would be back.

Critchlow thanked Bogunia for speaking out about Cedar Glen’s conditions, which gained the attention of Critchlow, South Bend legislators Maureen Bauer and David Niezgodski and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita.

“We would not be here today if he did not have the bravery to speak out,” Critchlow said of Bogunia.

“My children were watching, so I had to do something,” Bogunia said. His son and daughter lived at Cedar Glen as well, but have since moved out because of the conditions there, said Bogunia, who says he won’t leave. He says he's become the person other tenants seek to talk about their unit’s problems and speaks up for those who won’t speak up. He couldn't move if he wanted anyway, he said, because he can't afford anywhere else despite working three jobs.

“This is about what is right and fair": Township seeks resolution to Cedar Glen issues

“There is a culture of fear within residents,” Critchlow said. “They’re afraid to come forward because they believe that laws in Indiana allow them to be evicted very easily.”

“We can make a difference if we all stand there together and fight the good fight,” Bogunia said. “We have to do it in the way that represents the love that South Bend has for its people.”

After reaching an agreement, Critchlow said, the complex’s owners seem like they’re making efforts to regain the trust of the residents.

Some efforts, as stated in a compliance agreement with the Indiana Attorney General filed in Marion Superior Court in Indianapolis on Aug. 8, include repairing and/or replacing all known boiler mechanical parts that have created heating and hot water failures throughout the property. These parts consist of boilers, pumps and water softeners. Additionally, a boiler and water softener maintenance plan was adopted to closely monitor the systems.

“We’re going to be watching this very closely as winter arrives to make sure Cedar Glen upholds their commitment under this compliance agreement,” Critchlow said.

Residents question if agreement is sufficient

Despite the agreement, some residents aren’t assured things will change.

The 66 affected units were identified by Cedar Glen, Critchlow said, but many of those tenants identified have moved. Even so, each affected tenant received the same rental credit of $192, no matter what their monthly rental fee is. Cedar Glen tenants question where the remainder of the total $10,600 goes to with so many affected tenants no longer living at Cedar Glen.

Ginnie Brandt, a current resident at Cedar Glen, is considering moving. She hasn’t received any money from the settlement. She is behind on her rent, she admitted, and wondered if it was a factor.

“We thought we were entitled to four months free rent,” she said, after hearing from Bogunia that he received a credit. “People were renting out motels to shower. They (the owners) should pay for that.”

Brandt didn’t have hot water for four months, she said. For Bogunia it was longer. She believes that if tenants go a month without hot water, then they shouldn’t have to pay for that month. Tenants take two buses to get to the homeless shelter to shower, she said.

Cedar Glen is trying to improve the property in other ways, Brandt allowed, including planting tomato plants to increase satisfaction. But to her, a plan to fix or replace broken boilers doesn’t mean much. It’s non-committal, she said, and doesn’t mean the complex won’t have further problems.

“I just want hot water,” she said.

Brandt’s lease ends on Nov. 1. She’ll need to decide to stay or move out.

Rodney Gadson, President of the South Bend Tenant Association has been working closely with Cedar Glen tenants to help form their committee, provide access to legal advice with Judith Fox, a retired clinical professor emerita of law from the University of Notre Dame , and organize the multiple frustrated tenants into one voice. They created a game plan intended to best address the needs of Cedar Glen’s tenants.

Subsidized: Troubled South Bend apartment complex Cedar Glen received state funding in 2019

“There’s more that definitely needs to be done,” Gadson said at the Aug. 20 press conference with Portage Township, calling the agreement a good stepping stone.

“If this is just a one-time payment for 14 months, that we have a record of this, is that enough for the tenants for what they’ve been through, and is that satisfactory?” he questioned.

Tenants felt the amount was unacceptable, Gadson said. He asked Krieg DeVault LLP attorney Alex Bowman, who conducted an investigation with Critchlow at Cedar Glen, if the agreement is binding. Will tenants be able to take action on their own?

Bowman agreed the issues have been going on for some period of time. The rental credits are for Jan. 2024, when, from the attorney general’s standpoint, he said, “the issues were particularly acute and the claims were particularly ascertainable.”

Critchlow said when the township agreed to the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance between the attorney general and MAH Cedar Glen, LC, it did not preclude the tenants from taking further action.

A spokesperson MAH Cedar Glen, LC issued a statement in the press release, but chose to remove it before the press conference. No representatives from MAH Cedar Glen, LC attended the press conference.

Portage Township did not enter into an agreement with Cedar Glen’s management, Indianapolis-based Barrett and Stokely, nor the former management Bradley Company .

When asked if Barrett and Stokely should share some responsibility in the restitution, Bowman said the township assumes there’s a contractual agreement between MAH Cedar Glen, LP and Barrett and Stokely to manage the property.

Critchlow responded that from the township’s standpoint, the owners are required to ensure that livable utilities are provided. It’s between them and their property manager if it wasn’t provided, he said.

For Gadson, this isn’t over.

“We’ll see how further we can go to get what the tenants feel is proper restitution,” he said. “One month versus 14 months, you do that math, that doesn’t seem to be cool if you were in their position.”

The South Bend Tenant Association will host a press conference on Sept. 16 at the River Park Library from 5 to 7 p.m. to develop a mediation process to get proper restitution.

Critchlow said the agreement sets a precedent that something can be done about problematic apartment complexes who aren’t meeting the needs of their tenants.

“We wanted to show that this is possible,” Critchlow said. To the other problematic apartment complexes, and problematic landlords within the city, he said he hopes they’re taking note of this success.

Gadson plans to address issues at Prairie I and II Apartments , Miami Hills, Karl King Riverbend Tower and Beacon Heights Apartments. They’re on his to-do list for the remainder of 2024 to 2025, he said.

Portage Township chose to waive their personal restitution, which they previously advocated for , in exchange for a higher rental credit amount for residents, Critchlow said.

“We are not going to accept substandard housing conditions in our community anymore, frankly, we don’t have to accept it,” he said.

The township plans on enacting their own property inspection program, he said.

“There are measures of accountability that can be taken,” he said. “We are not going to sit idly by. We are willing to be a guardian for the rights of tenants.”

Email Tribune staff writer Camille Sarabia at csarabia@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Is it enough? South Bend apartment complex settles complaints after loss of heat, hot water