Outspoken Residents Say Building Management is Targeting Them for Complaints About The Mosaic High-Rise

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The Mosaic apartments in downtown Dallas have been hit with more plagues than Egypt it would seem. Fires, plumbing issues, homeless people living in stairwells, HVAC problems in the dead of summer, widespread power and water outages in the cold of winter … all we need here are a few locusts.

But when residents of the Mosaic took to a private Facebook group to discuss these egregious maintenance issues, they say they were targeted by building management for speaking up and speaking out, CandysDirt.com has learned. Outspoken residents are being asked to vacate at the end of their lease term or, recently, are being evicted.

On a typical day, tenants of the high-rise apartment building might post about issues with the parking garage, which had a gate that only intermittently worked. Tenants who were members of the Facebook group sometimes reported being unable to enter or exit the garage, having their cars broken into, or having their cars illegally towed or even stolen.

Other days, residents might warn fellow tenants that the building’s front and side doors were unsecured and that anyone might be able to access the building. There are several instances where tenants took to the Facebook group to talk about a lack of electricity, air conditioning, heat, or water. They voiced complaints and warnings about the elevators, which seemed to only sporadically operate. The group was a way for neighbors to efficiently communicate issues they may encounter and support each other. But they didn’t realize their comments would have housing repercussions.

Beautiful Views, Maintenance Nightmare

When Jelena Petrovic moved into the Mosaic around two years ago she was excited.

“It was my first apartment so I was ecstatic,” she said of her 26th-floor unit in the Mosaic’s tall tower. “It had the most amazing views.”

It only took a month for things to go sideways.

“Literally a month after I moved in the elevators flooded,” Petrovic said. After that, issues seemed to never abate.

The Mosaic’s tall tower has four elevators, Petrovic said, but only two were operable on a semi-regular basis. In some cases, one of those two elevators that access the 30-story tower was kaput. On more than a few occasions, both elevators accessing the tall tower were out of service, which meant that residents on the upper floors of the tall tower had to take the short tower’s elevators to the 20th floor and then walk to their unit up the stairs from there.

Jelena Petrovic started a private Facebook group for residents at the Mosaic. She claims it was the reason she was ousted from her apartment.

That was why Petrovic started the “Residents Of The Mosaic Apartment Building In Downtown Dallas” Facebook group in December 2019. It was an easy way for residents to connect and give one another a heads-up on issues.

“We help each other out, we share books, candles, and other things,” Petrovic said. Residents also posted to the group to alert fellow residents when elevators weren’t working properly, which was frequent. “People kept getting stuck in the elevators. Even when management said the issue was fixed, it would happen again.”

It wasn’t until last July when a fire broke out in the building’s trash chute and lobby did the issues that plagued the downtown Dallas apartment building become more widely known. When tenants were forced to evacuate the building’s two towers, many residents spotted areas in the stairwells occupied by homeless people. Litter, clothing, and even what appeared to be feces were found as tenants worked their way out of the building.

Last July, a fire broke out at the Mosaic. That was when many residents discovered that homeless people were encamped in several of the building’s stairwells. (Photo: Joe Chavis)

But how were homeless people gaining access to a building that is billed as a luxury high-rise apartment tower by its management company, Fort Worth-based Olympus Property? There are several instances where residents in the Facebook group relayed to other tenants that locks on the building’s exterior doors, elevators, and gates were not functional, meaning that anyone off the street could access the building’s floors and amenities.

It didn’t take long for residents to organize and start sharing stories of the many safety issues they experienced at the building and the management’s slow response to fix them — if they were fixed at all. The only problem was that the group wasn’t so private. Either someone from Olympus Property was accessing the group, or someone was relaying the posts to officials at Olympus.

“We’re being evicted.”

Shane Burroughs and his partner, Bruce Nather, moved into the Mosaic last August, right when the building suffered a catastrophic power and water outage that left temperatures in the building soaring. Despite the outages and high temperatures, Burroughs and Nather got their keys and headed up to their unit on the 15th floor of the Mosaic’s tall tower. Due to COVID protocols, the pair leased the unit based on floor plans without actually being able to see it. When they unlocked the unit, they were horrified.

“The day we moved in there was carpet everywhere and the painting had not been done. There was mildew all over the bathroom and the glass cooktop had a huge crack,” Burroughs said. “The place was just filthy.”

Shane Burroughs and Bruce Nather | Timeline of Issues to Olympus Property by Jo Jemison England on Scribd

It took months for building management to address the issues, which involved numerous back-and-forth communications between the building manager, Olympus’ regional manager, and other staff members. It was a headache that Burroughs and Nather weren’t expecting from a “luxury” apartment building.

The lack of on-site security and concierge was another concern for residents, who have been accosted by homeless people in stairwells, the parking garage, and on the building’s amenity deck. It was this issue that made the situation at the Mosaic urgent for Burroughs and Nather, who began to document all of the security issues and doggedly relay them to building management. In all, the pair amassed about 400 emails in their eight months of occupying their 15th-floor unit at the Mosaic.

But what happened next shocked Burroughs.

“We were sitting here watching TV last night and Bruce says, ‘We’ve been evicted,'” Burroughs said. “Initially I laughed and thought it was a joke.”

But it was far from a joke. Burroughs and Nather were sent a formal eviction notice from Olympus Property’s lawyer notifying them that the building’s management wanted the pair and their two dogs out within the month.

Burroughs believes that his eviction is retaliation on the part of Mosaic’s management for his persistent complaints about the building’s safety. And he’s not the only one.

Letter to Residents From Olympus Representative by Jo Jemison England on Scribd

Notice to Vacate Olympus Property by Jo Jemison England on Scribd

Ousting The Mosaic’s Outspoken

Petrovic said that the building’s management company refused to renew her lease because she started the Facebook group. Olympus Property sent her an email last October notifying her that her lease was to be terminated after it ran out on Dec. 26, 2021. Petrovic replied asking Olympus why she wasn’t given the option to renew.

“We reserve the right to not give you a reason as to why this notice was given, just as you would have the right to not give us a reason if you would have chosen to vacate your apartment,” said Nayra Guerrero, the assistant property manager at the Mosaic, in an email to Petrovic.

“Last year when I asked about the renewal process, one of the leasing agents told me on the phone, ‘It doesn’t seem like you want to live here since you started the resident Facebook group and let people complain, why do you want to renew?'” Petrovic said. “When the letter was delivered to me, the leasing agent on the phone mentioned the resident group again but responded with this through email.” 

Petrovic tried to find out from the building manager exactly why her lease was not being renewed.

According to Petrovic, several other residents have been asked about their posts by leasing agents in the private residents’ group as well. One of them was Matthew Lambert, who has since moved from the building after Mosaic declined to renew his lease that expires March 16.

Lambert was very vocal in the resident group, often detailing the ongoing issues with the building and how these issues seemed in stark contrast to what they were told they could expect when living at the Mosaic.

The fact that people who were not residents were able to get inside the building and elevators that could allow them to access units due to faulty security was too much. Add in the lack of security lights in stairwells and hallways and fire alarms going off at least weekly for no apparent reason, and you could see how that would frustrate a tenant.

Lambert, whose wife was pregnant, asked to vacate his lease in February 2020 due to ongoing security and maintenance issues at the building.

“A couple of weeks went by with nothing from them,” he said. At that point, he asked to talk to the building management in person about the issue. It quickly devolved, according to Lambert. But it wasn’t until December of last year that Mosaic management told him that they were opting not to renew his lease.

“I just wish they had spent the money to give tenants a sense of security,” Lambert said, who owns a business not far from downtown Dallas. “I feel sad, because as much as I loved living downtown, I just can’t justify staying with all of the crime and lack of security at the building.”

A Clear-Cut Case

Mark Melton, a partner at Holland & Knight LLP, is board chair at the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, an organization that represents Dallas County tenants who are facing eviction. While Burroughs and Nather have posted to the Facebook group for Mosaic residents — though angry at times — the pair are within their rights as tenants, Melton told CandysDirt.com.

“It looks like a clear-cut case of retaliation,” Melton said.

In Texas, one of the things that a tenant can do is establish or participate in a tenant organization, Melton said. If a property owner is trying to evict residents that are trying to reach out and organize, that’s a problem.

“There is basically an imbalance of power between property owners and tenants,” Melton said. “Property owners can afford a team of lawyers to fight. Tenants can’t.”

Editor’s Note: We reached out to management at Olympus Property about the ongoing issues at the Mosaic and the company’s actions regarding the lease agreements of these tenants. We did not receive a response by deadline but will update the story should Olympus officials reach out to us.

Joanna England is the Executive Editor at CandysDirt.com and covers the North Texas housing market.

9 Comments

  1. Jolene on February 25, 2022 at 10:34 am

    I encourage you to write more of these articles. There’s more of this going on than you would imagine.

  2. Jon Anderson on February 25, 2022 at 5:57 pm

    I have a friend that lives in the Wilson building. He has had many of the same issues as this building. Management has no interest in fixing the issues. I know that living downtown in one of the older building has an allure to it but I would recommend staying away.

    The other Jon Anderson

  3. Karen Eubank on February 25, 2022 at 7:52 pm

    Do tell !

  4. Debbie on February 26, 2022 at 11:10 am

    Pegasus Senior Villas has the exact same issues but includes begbug, cockroaches and no housekeeping so unhealthy conditions! Harassment of tenants etc.

  5. Alex on February 26, 2022 at 12:45 pm

    Do the Mercantile complex next. I recently moved out of the Mercantile Continental building and it was wild. The place is falling apart while at the same time they’re jacking up the rent. Sad how they’re letting such a historical building rot from the inside.

  6. John on February 27, 2022 at 1:23 am

    I looked at the Mosaic somewhere in the 2010-2014 timeframe when I worked downtown. Just reading comments online about the place back then drove me away. There were 2 deaths in a 10-day span from somebody fatally falling out a window even. Steer clear. I did spend a year in a high rise downtown, and it had its own issues, but the Mosaic is famous for being a train wreck.

    https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2010/11/22/pair-of-fatal-falls-from-downtown-dallas-loft-complex-worries-residents/

  7. s lambert on February 27, 2022 at 8:32 pm

    always always ALWAYS report problems to Code. even if Code lallygags around, one of few tenant protections in PC is protecting tenants from retaliation by landlord for reporting problems to a government agency. this applies even at lease end. the only way a landlord can not extend a rent up to date
    lease , is to sell unit. the main problem is what the landlord reports to next prospective landlord. it is a miserable nightmare and nobody cares. not even St Mark bothered to return my phone call and i could PAY for legal advice. in Texas, tenants are ….screwed.

  8. Dawn on March 5, 2022 at 7:39 pm

    The owners of the Manor House, Harbor Group Management, have been doing the same thing ever since they bought the building. Harassing tenants with fake lease violations, charging fines not in the lease, threatening eviction and not renewing leases after they’ve complained.

  9. MK on March 16, 2022 at 8:12 am

    The same thing is happening at American Beauty Mill, although not to that full extent. Multiple people have left due to mold, dripping sewage and homeless issues.
    If anything is reported it’s ignored or you’re told your lease won’t be renewed.

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