EVERETT, Wash. — Several people who lost their homes in an Everett fire earlier this week are dismayed with how their property management company, Avenue 5, has handled the situation.
Several residents say their calls have been unanswered since the fire started Monday morning.
“They didn’t return any of our phone calls, no emails out to the residents, nothing. On the resident portal, nothing,” Jordan Bister said.
Bister and her partner Aaron Shackman woke up to the smell of smoke and flames crawling over their balcony at 4 a.m. They got their dog and got out with barely any clothes, some of which they’ve had to wear all week.
When no one was at their leasing office the morning of the fire, they started calling to try and get answers of guidance.
“I know they received my call because when I was asking about ‘hey, do we pay rent because my insurance needs to know.’ Instead of returning the car, they pull the rent,” Shackman said.
The two showed KIRO 7 the rent coming out of their account on March 2, the day of the fire.
“It’s not like we wanted them to take responsibility or do anything super outlandish. It was just like communication, like the baseline empathy of ‘wow, I’m sorry you had to go through that. What questions do you have?’ Nothing,” Bister said.
Bister suspects much of the issue with communication is due to the normal leasing person, who Bister says is great, being on vacation. Shackman says the person filling hasn’t been as welcoming, even the day of the fire.
“It wasn’t just not helpful. It was like, why are you even in this building right now? Why are you speaking to me? That kind of attitude. What do you want me to tell you? I think that’s exactly what she said word for word,” Shackman said.
Another resident posted a GoFundMe to get help while she waits for a new place to live.
Bister and Shackman finally heard back after telling Avenue 5 leadership they were doing an interview with KIRO 7 News.
They offered them a smaller apartment with a smaller balcony and one less bathroom for $40 less than they were currently paying.
“Honestly, we wouldn’t even be talking to you if we had gotten the basic human decency in that situation. But it was just, it has been nothing but an awful experience for us,” Bister said.
Avenue 5 responded to this story with the following statement:
“Our priority since the fire earlier this week has been the well-being of our residents. Our onsite team immediately partnered with first responders and the American Red Cross to support the impacted residents, and they have been connected with temporary housing support and received options for permanent housing. We are coordinating access to the affected apartments in accordance with fire department safety guidelines, so residents may retrieve personal belongings and begin the insurance claims process. We are also refunding displaced residents’ rent payments, which were processed the day before the fire. Our team continues to work directly with residents to provide ongoing support.”