CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Skyhouse Uptown is marketed as a luxury set of towers, however, one of its tenants told WCNC Charlotte he's had nothing but trouble with his unit since moving in January of 2022.
Shermaine Leggions moved to the Queen City for a job and signed a lease at the Greystar-managed property without stepping foot in the apartment.
"The pictures, the video, they looked wonderful," he said.
After about five months, the property and casualty insurance agent said he came home to find water pooling from the water heater closet.
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"It took a little while before maintenance came," Leggions said. "I'm used to an immediate, urgent response to something like flooding because of all the implications -- standing water, mold, mildew. So, usually, I anticipate someone coming in almost immediately to stop the flow, to extract water, to treat where water may have been standing. It's been a lackadaisical approach from management."
He said maintenance eventually showed up and stopped the water flow, but that was it.
"There were no fans placed, there was no water extraction -- not until I requested that," Leggions said. "It's absolutely ridiculous."
He recalled the second time was an active flow of water near the laundry area, saturating the adjacent bedroom and into the walk-in closet.
The most recent time happened in early November after the ice maker, which Leggions said hadn't worked since he moved in, was looked at by maintenance crews.
He said instead of fixing it, they did the opposite. He said when maintenance checked again, they said the problem was caused by water from the ice maker.
"This time, the water was truly everywhere, and it sat for some days before water was extracted," Leggions said.
He said the standing water was flowing into the hall and, again, saturated the carpet in the adjacent bedroom.
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He said his unit was not the only one. Another instance happened to his neighbor back in July.
"There was another instance when maintenance requested to access my apartment because there was an active flood in the apartment below mine," he explained.
Tom Bartholomy from the Better Business Bureau says Greystar has been on their radar for a while because of the company's F-rating.
"They manage a number of apartment properties in the Charlotte area and generate a fair share of complaints," Bortholomy told WCNC Charlotte. "In this day and age, it's just bad business. If you don't think your reputation matters, you're probably in the wrong business."
Leggions added he's learned from the experience.
"I didn't expect to have to look at a whole Better Business Bureau rating just to determine this was an acceptable place to live," Leggions said. "But that's something certainly given this experience, that I would do going forward."
Greystar sent WCNC Charlotte a statement in response.
"Skyhouse Uptown does its best to address maintenance issues within 24 hours. Some maintenance issues require ordering of materials and replacement parts, which could extend the timetable of their resolution. Our records show our team has responded to all of this resident’s maintenance requests within the appropriate timeframe. We are unable to go into further detail because of pending litigation with this resident.”
Leggions filed a small claims suit in Mecklenburg County. He said the first court date has been set for February 2023.
Contact Jane Monreal at jmonreal@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.