Thousands at risk of losing water service
CORALSPRINGS— All 3,000 people who live in a rental complex in Coral Springs could lose their water service this week because so many lost their jobs they can’t pay their rent.
About the fourth of the renters at Ramblewood East are behind, and the homeowners association can’t pay the $290,000 it owes to the private water company, Royal Waterworks Inc.
The association is trying to work out an arrangement that will keep the water on, but the situation illustrates the straits that renters across South Florida face as the COVID-19 pandemic persists.
Many businesses have begunto recall employees, but others are still laying people off; unemployment remains high; and people are watching their bills pile up faster than they can pay them.
Ramblewood East resident Alyssa Ippolito, a single mother of a 12-yearold and 8-year-old twins, lost her job as a grill cook in April. Nowshe’s $5,000 behind in rent andmissing car payments too.
If she loses her water service, she won’t be able to feed her children, she said Monday through tears. “I have nothing.”
The story is familiar to tenants groups across the country.
“We’re anticipating a tsunami of evictions across the United States — and there’s not going to not be enough resources to combat it,” said Stacy Pollard, a west coast
regional director of Family Promise in Oregon, which assists low-income families.
Becky Sullivan, spokeswoman for the Virginia-Association, said the problem has grown worse with no more assistance coming from the federal government. But landlords, too, have trouble paying mortgages when renters fall behind, she said.
Water service is included in the rent that tenants pay at Ramblewood East, and the homeowners association contracts with Royal Waterworks as a single customer. If the HOA can’t pay, all tenants suffer.
Ramblewood East resident Joseph Molos said he earned a good income as a district manager for a food distribution company before COVID-19 cost him his job in April. He tried to keep up with the rent, he said, but child support payments and his child’s private school tuition couldn’t wait, and soon he gave up on rent completely.
“I’ m four months behind ,” he said. “I couldn’t keep up anymore.”
The prospect of no water is troubling to him.
“I don’t understand how a water company could sit there and do something like that when they know you need water to survive,”
Molos said. “If we have no water, what are we going to do? Howare people going to cook? Howare people going to clean? It’s ridiculous to me.”
Nick Damasceno, president of the Ramblewood East Homeowner’s Association, said he’s frantically working with the water company on a payment program or extension, but he hopes the local government will intervene and come up with the money.
Troy Rendell, vice Investor Owned Utilities for Royal Water works, said the company is ina tight spot, too, with bills that need to be paid. Ramblewood East makes up 50% of its revenues, hesaid. The rest comes from two large shopping centers in Coral Springs and three other neighborhoods of single-family homes.
He said service at Ramble wood East was scheduled to end Monday, but “we will hold off till Wednesday or Thursday” as he worked withcity leaders to “getback with us if they are going to get funds or not.”
The water company’s proposal: Use federalmoney from the federal corona virus reliefpackage topay the bill. Bro ward County got anal location of $340.7 million and plans to spend it ona variety of services including rental assistance, food distribution, virus testing and a $102 million distribution to Broward’s cities for coronavirus-related expenses.
Although the portion for Coral Springs is $5.79 million, the city has already given the country a plan for the money, including rental and utility assistance and a business grant program, according to a Coral Springs spokeswoman.
Coral Springs City Commissioner Joshua Simmons said the city administration wasworking with county staff Monday for permission to use some of the money to assist Ramblewood East residents with rental assistance — which would then help with the water bills .“That would give them more time to come up with a payment plan, hopefully,” he said.
About 60% of the 1,020
units at Ramblewood East are rentals. Rent ranges from $1,050 for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom-unit to $1,350 for a two-bedroom, two-bath home. About 25% of the renters are not paying their bills on time or at all, Damasceno said.
As a hair stylist, Mimi Girona was the first to be out of work as a “non-essential business” when the global pandemic hit. Even though she’s back at work, she has only about half of her previous customers.
“We are struggling, our industry is totally different,” she said. She said that although she’s three months behind on her rent, the management has been “very kind and patient with me” and she’s trying to pay everything she owes back as quickly as possible.
But the threat to shut off water is upsetting.
“It’s outrageous. It is awful. How do we live with nowater?” she asked
George Ash, also a resident, was furloughed in March fromhis job in sales. “We thought we were coming back and that was not the case,” he said. “They didn’t let us come back.”
His wife was still working, andthe rent was getting paid, but always late. The couple is now behind in their credit card payments: “I got the creditors calling me now. COVID caused a lot of damage. We’re hoping we can bounce back.”
He found a new job in September and the rent is now up to date, but Ash and his wife are still stressed about the water payments.
“It’s adding insult to injury,” Alicia Ash said. “There’s people here with young babies. We’re still not out of the COVID waters and I think [the threat to disconnect water] is horrible.”