EVERETT — Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown filed a complaint in Snohomish County Superior Court on Friday against California-based property management company FPI Management and the owners of three apartment complexes in Snohomish County.
The complaint lists owners of five apartment complexes in Western Washington as defendants, alleging that they engaged in unfair and deceptive practices impacting hundreds of senior tenants at the properties.
Apartment complex owners in Snohomish County listed as defendants in the complaint include Vintage at Marine View, Everett, Vintage at Mill Creek, and AMWA Cedar Point Fund, LP, owners of Cedar Pointe Apartments in Arlington. The complaint includes apartments owned by Vintage in Sequim and Tacoma.
Vintage Housing disputes the Attorney General’s allegations and will address them in court, the company’s senior vice president, Maureen Picarella, wrote in an email Friday.
“Vintage housing has been a part of providing housing in Washington for over 25 years,” she wrote. “We take seriously our role as providers of affordable housing to seniors and the communities we are part of. We will work with our property manager, FPI, to address any issues. We are unable to comment further on pending litigation.”
FPI Management did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Cedar Pointe Apartments declined to comment.
FPI and the property owners market their apartment complexes as “low-income” units to tenants who are 55 and older, according to a press release from the Attorney General’s office.
Over a period of several years, the complaint alleged FPI and the property owners failed to disclose to their low-income senior tenants how their rent would be calculated and increased in the future, misrepresented the quality of their apartment units, the availability and quality of building amenities like pools or fitness areas and safety at the properties. These are all violations of the Consumer Protection Act, according to the press release.
“Housing is particularly important for older Washingtonians, and it’s hard for them to move once they’ve signed a lease,” Brown said in the press release. “It’s egregious to convince vulnerable populations they’re getting quality living when in reality they are stuck with properties in disrepair that also end up costing more than they expected over time.”
All five property owners participate in the Low-income Housing Tax Credit Program, designed to incentivize private developers to “build, renovate and preserve” low-income multi-family housing units with support from federal tax credits, the complaint said.
In exchange, property developers receive tax credits in exchange for setting aside a certain number of apartment units in their buildings for tenants below a certain income threshold. The maximum rental rates under this program are set annually by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, based on the rise or fall of the area median income in the county where the property is located.
As of 2023, the area median income for Snohomish County was $107,982, according to census data.
Owners of the apartment complexes hired FPI Management to manage the five properties at issue. FPI and the property owners do not adequately disclose to prospective tenants that their monthly rent will be based on area median income, which is often significantly more than the fixed incomes that most low-income tenants must live on, the press release said.
The defendants also misrepresent the quality of their buildings, according to the press release, advertising them as “luxury” and “resort style,” when in reality many tenants move in only to find their units dirty with broken appliances, including leaks, mold, worn carpets and torn flooring.
Michael Henneke: 425-339-3431; michael.henneke@heraldnet.com; X: @ihenpecked.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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