Residents Of Issaquah Low-Income Housing Protest Unfair Treatment

ISSAQUAH, WA - A group of Issaquah residents living in subsidized housing in the Talus area say they are being treated unfairly by building managers. The residents say they are seeing big rent hikes, and are getting written up multiple times in one day for small infractions.

The residents of Rose Crest at Talus on Tuesday marched to the office of the building manager, delivering a 10-day notice requesting to meet with managers about the problems. The manager's office was locked and empty when they got there.

Villette Nolon, executive director of Imagine Housing, which built Rose Crest, said the nonprofit will meet with the residents. A company called PMI manages the building for Imagine Housing, handling tasks like enforcing leases, making repairs, and collecting rent.

One resident, Violeta Sialer, said that she has lived at the complex for nine years and has never had problems. Recently, she said the building manager gave her four 1o-day notices in one day (a 10-day notice orders a tenant to correct a lease violation, or vacate the apartment). Sialer said she's facing eviction because her son, who just turned 18, is not on the lease.

"I can't afford to live some other place," she said. "That would mean my son and I would be living on the streets."

Nolon told Patch that she's not aware of any recent personnel changes in management at Rose Crest. She did say that PMI often rotates building managers for training purposes. In regards to Sialer's complaint about getting four notices in one day, Nolon said that the building managers are within their rights to enforce lease agreements.

Rose Crest at Talus is located at 341 Shangri La Way, surrounded by $600,000-plus houses and the vast Cougar Mountain park. Residents earn between 30 and 60 percent of the local median income.

Residents have also complained of sudden rent hikes. A mother and daughter living at Rose Crest with several children were paying $600 per month for their apartment. They were recently notified that the rent would increase to $1,300 per month, according to reports.

Because Imagine Housing builds complexes using public money, Nolon said the nonprofit is required to calculate rent based on how much leaseholders earn. But, residents can appeal rent hikes. In the case mentioned above, one tenant went from working part-time to full-time, so the rent has to be increased to take that into account.

Imagine Housing has built more than a dozen low-income developments across the Eastside. Five of those are located in either Sammamish or Issaquah.

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