Residents concerned about new apartment complex ownership

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (KCRG) - On Monday, residents of one Mount Vernon apartment complex gathered to discuss the changes they’re seeing after the complex was sold to a new company.

Sara Cunningham lives in one of the units at the Imperial Apartments in Mount Vernon. She called it home for the last three years.

“It’s in the budget, all the utilities paid, they worked with new moms, they worked with all of us,” said Cunningham.

She said that all changed when the complex was sold to a new company, Stoddard and Jensen, out of Coralville. Rent used to include utilities and trash, but now, residents said they would be responsible, plus a 5% bump in rent.

Because of these concerns, she decided to get as many residents together as she could. She even went door to door, aiming to make sure people understood what they might be getting themselves into with the new company.

“All of our leases that we just got are all up as of 10/1,” said Cunningham.

To address these issues, TV9 spoke to a representative of the leasing company, who stated that they’re playing fair and offering all current residents the opportunity to sign new leases. She said the company sent several messages to residents over the last several months about the changes, but people still had a lot of questions. Meanwhile, Cunningham said the building’s repair problems have reached the point that she wanted the city of Mount Vernon to intervene.

She expressed hope for assistance in reviewing leases, aiming to help residents avoid entering contracts that may not be affordable.