Water Shutoff Threatened At 2 FL Apartment Complexes After Missed Payments

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Residents at two St. Petersburg apartment complexes — The Elements on Third and The Morgan — were recently surprised to find notices from the city on their doors threatening to shut off their water for nonpayment before the end of the month.

“I somewhat screamed,” one woman, who has lived at The Morgan for nearly three years and wanted to remain anonymous, told Patch about her reaction when she first read the notice from the city’s Billing & Collections Department. “You know, do that, ‘Ahhhh, what the (expletive)? What is going on now?’”

Those living at the complexes, which are both owned by Texas-based Lurin Real Estate Holdings LXIV LLC, don’t receive a water bill, she explained. “Instead I had an assessment on my rent and it’s $75 a month.”

Tenants pay their water bills directly to the company as part of their monthly rent and fees, she added.

Threatened water shutoffs would affect 304 units at The Morgan, 5473 27th Street S., and 431 units at Elements on Third, 3201 3rd Ave. N.

Lurin hasn’t been paying its water bills at either property, according to the city’s notice, which was dated Aug. 1. The notice didn’t include the number of missed payments or the amount owed.

The company was given three weeks to pay its past-due amount or water will be shut off Aug. 21.

“We have exhausted all attempts to resolve this issue with Lurin Real Estate Holdings LXIV LLC over an extended period of time with no success,” the city said in the notice left for residents at The Morgan. “Regretfully, we have now reached a critical point that will impact utility services to all of the tenants of The Morgan.”

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The city notice also said, “We very much regret that this has reached such an extreme point, but the lack of responsiveness on the part of Lurin Real Estate Holdings leaves us with no other alternative.”

A spokesperson for Lurin and Stewart & Helm, which is Lurin’s property management arm, told Patch that outstanding bills at both apartment communities have already been paid.

“Payments for the outstanding water bills were sent late last week. We are waiting for the city's records to reflect receipt of the payments. That should occur well before the threatened deadline. There should be no interruption in water service for residents,” Ed Cafasso said.

Patch has reached out to Candice Winter, the city’s interim billing and collections director, for additional information about the missed payments. This story will be updated when she responds.

This isn’t the first time Lurin hasn’t paid its water bill for one of its properties.

The city of Tampa threatened to shut off the water at The Delmar, a 689-unit apartment complex at 4003 S. West Shore Blvd., in May after Lurin hadn’t paid the property’s water bill since February, WTSP reported.

The Delmar and Milo Bayside in St. Petersburg were part of a dozen Florida apartment properties owned by Lurin that were slated to be auctioned by lender Acore Capital Mortgage as part of a nearly $400 million foreclosure, The Real Deal reported in April.

Both The Delmar and Milo Bayside remain listed on Lurin’s website as part of the company’s portfolio.

Patch has reached out to Cafasso to clarify the status of the foreclosure auction. This story will be updated when he responds.

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