Stalemate between USPS, apartment leaves Des Moines tenants without mail delivery
Tenants of a Des Moines apartment complex, many of whom are refugees who speak little to no English, are not getting their mail, stuck in a stalemate between apartment management and the United States Postal Service.
Neither the property management company nor USPS agree on who owns the shared mailbox at Legacy Apartments in the Lower Beaver neighborhood, meaning some tenants have not been issued mailbox keys. The situation was brought to the attention of the Ethnic Minorities of Burma Advocacy and Resource Center (EMBARC). One tenant has been without mail access since moving in on Aug. 25, according to volunteer Deborah Timmons.
“Several of our clients residing at a specific apartment complex have come to us recently stating that they have not received a mailbox key since moving in…,” EMBARC said in an email to the Register. “We have advocated on behalf of our clients to the apartment complex and the post office, but both have denied responsibility to resolve the issue.”
Around 20 tenants are having this issue, according to EMBARC, and the language barrier is making it difficult for them to resolve the issue. Many of the residents rely on the mail to pay bills and maintain correspondence with the Department of Human Services for food assistance or Medicaid, Timmons said.
Legacy Apartments is managed by Integrated Asset Management-IAM LLC, a property management company that provides multifamily management services.
Tina Smothers, owner of Integrated Management-IAM LLC, said in a statement to the Register: “Legacy Apartments is working with the USPS on clarification of recent policy changes. We have instructed residents to communicate with the post office on how to receive mail temporarily until we have a
solution. We strive to support our residents, owners and the United States Postal Service team members during this time.”
She did not respond to follow-up questions to clarify policy changes.
Meanwhile, Mark Inglett, spokesperson for USPS, said late last week he doesn’t have information to share with the Des Moines Register because he can’t get ahold of apartment management. On Monday, he issued a statement that said USPS has worked with the apartment management team to “establish their process for installing and maintaining locks for tenants of their apartment complex located at 3610 Twana Drive.”
“They are currently in the process of identifying current tenants requiring a lock change,” Inglett said. “Going forward, we have established a schedule with the management company that will provide consistency for lock changes to ensure all tenants continue to receive mail delivery.”
Tenants can’t get into their mailboxes, but why?
There is only one way to receive mail at Legacy Apartments, and it requires a key to the centralized box units, which are located outside in the parking lot.
“The apartment manager says that the CBU is owned by the Beaverdale Post Office, and (the tenant) will need to get the key from them,” Timmons said in an interview with the Register. “But the Beaverdale Post Office says that the apartment owner owns the box, and (the tenant) needs to get the key from the manager.”
The tenant Timmons is working with did not respond to inquiries from the Register.
Property manager Aubreeanna Sink told Timmons in an email shared with the Register that apartment management does “not have access to those mailboxes. Nor have we since they were installed in 2017/ I have no keys or way to access the mailboxes to change the locks.”
On Oct. 19, Sink said that apartment management is awaiting an answer from the postmaster for more information. When reached by the Register, Sink said to contact the corporate office and declined to give further information.
Meanwhile, the Beaverdale Post Office told Timmons “the post office is not responsible for those locks until management is able to get those locks installed and changed,” according to an email shared with the Register.
Property management company owner previously advocated for equal-opportunity housing
In an interview on Facebook with the Polk County Housing Trust Fund (PCHTF) in 2022 in support of Welcome Home, Iowa, an organization with the Iowa Finance Authority that supports equal opportunity and affordable housing, Smothers said, “I’m a firm believer that we have housing choices for everyone, no matter how much they make per year, what their circumstances are.”
Smothers has owned Integrated Asset Management-IAM LLC since July but has been in the property management field for 26 years, owning properties across the state, according to the video on Facebook. Previously she was the president of the ARTISAN Management Group.
According to the Facebook post, “Tina is one of the original forces behind PCHTF’s Landlord Forum, an annual event that brings together property management professionals and social service providers for training and conversations to make sure every resident relationship is successful.”
“Going forward, we have established a schedule with the management company that will provide consistency for lock changes to ensure all tenants continue to receive mail delivery.”
Mark Inglett USPS spokesperson