Eagle Watch Estates residents meet with HUD to address concerns about living conditions

MISSOULA — Elderly and disabled residents of Eagle Watch Estates in Missoula say they have holes in their ceilings, heat problems in the winter and a lack of communication with their property management.

A community meeting was scheduled for June 27, 2024 with apartment management, Accessible Spaces Incorporated (ASI), and representatives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to address their concerns. However, it took a turn.

“If (my daughter) hadn’t come get me, I probably wouldn’t be here today,” said Eagle Watch Estates resident Ron Schindler, who has multiple sclerosis.

Schindler said his doctor told him that any major change in temperature could be life-threatening. “What will happen is if you are outside of this range, your body will shut down,” he detailed.
When temperatures dropped below freezing in January and the heat went out at Eagle Watch, Schindler said he was stuck in his apartment, unable to reach the property manager, Minnesota-based ASI, and without heat until his daughter came to help.

Alessandro Mitchell of the Missoula Tenants Union said that after the frigid weekend, when ASI responded, they offered housing to elderly and disabled tenants.

“They put them up in a hotel that was not ADA compliant and they brought them in cars that were not ADA compliant,” he said.

The tenants’ union and tenants’ association Eagle Watch sent a letter of concern to ASI saying they would like to have a caretaker on site to handle repair and maintenance issues.

Mitchell continued: “Shortly afterward, we were able to use a contact in Jon Tester’s office to put pressure on HUD. »

On Thursday, June 27, Eagle Watch Estates residents and their advocates met with a HUD representative to discuss their concerns about their living conditions. However, this was a more substantive meeting with their property manager.

“We were originally supposed to have a HUD-hosted town hall here. After sending requests for reasonable accommodations to have attorneys in the room and getting a response from ASI that they were canceling the town hall,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell hoped property management would hold an open community meeting where residents could get some support: “The more of us in the room, the more power the tenants have. »

ASI told MTN in a statement that they did not meet with residents so as not to interfere with HUD.

So instead of a group conference, residents and advocates met privately with a HUD representative and shared their concerns.

“She seemed concerned, legitimately concerned, about what the tenants are experiencing here, at least from the interview I was involved in, and it seems like they’re going to be pressuring ASI to have their needs addressed,” Mitchell said.

HUD explained in a statement to MTN:

The ASI continued its statement to MTN: