By Anna Hovet
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Weeks after their original move-in date, 77 Towson University students were finally able to occupy their Aspen Heights Towson apartments on Saturday.
The move-in comes after weeks of complaints from students and their parents over how Aspen Heights handled the delay.
Students who were interviewed over the past week said they were unhappy with the housing accommodations the apartment managers have provided in the interim before they could move into their apartments, with some saying they would seek legal action if they had the money and time.
Others said they tried calling the company for weeks about receiving refunds, but that managers have been slow to respond.
“I understand the delays because of COVID, but I also believe that Aspen isn’t taking responsibility for the stress they caused students,” said TU junior Amy Maschal, who is currently living in her parent’s home in Essex. “If they cared, they would have given us refunds right away.”
Matt Rinker, the regional director for Aspen Heights, said in an interview before students began moving into the building that the company notified students eight days prior to move-in day last August that their apartments would not be ready for residents to occupy them.
He said the delays were caused by the coronavirus pandemic, adding that the company had little control over the circumstances. The company is working hard to accommodate the students, he said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused delays in the availability of inspectors, materials, and workforce,” Rinker said last week. “The construction delays have precluded us from allowing any residents to move in. We are continuing to work very closely with the general contractor and will be in constant contact with our residents as any new updates are available.”
Rinker also said the company helped provide some residents with alternative housing.
“The lease agreement outlines that Aspen Heights will provide alternative housing accommodations in the event there is a delay,” Rinker said. “All residents who secured their own accommodations and chose financial compensation have been credited for rental payments made.”
TU senior Kofi Adeeku, who said he already paid his first rent payment of $1,024 for a four-bedroom, four-bathroom apartment that he signed for through Aspen Heights directly, was offered three options via an email from Aspen Heights: a $2,500 gift card and to find his own accommodations; a $1,000 gift card and hotel room with a roommate; or no gift card and a hotel room for one person. Adeeku said he chose the gift card and hotel with a roommate.
“The hotel accommodation is mediocre at best,” Adeeku said. “We are being accommodated in a space that is much less than that of an apartment. The accommodations were completely on their terms.”
Maschal said she signed a lease through Aspen Heights directly in late January. She said her family received a refund for her September rent payment after months of attempting to contact Aspen Heights. She said she received a refund of $1,199 for a two-bed, two-bath apartment, plus the $50 parking fee.
The delay has caused her a great deal of stress, Maschal said, adding that her house isn’t equipped for online and distance learning. She also noted how much more difficult a move in would be now, in the middle of a semester.
Maschal’s mother, Kimberly Maschal, said she called Rinker seven times in one week regarding issues with the potential move-in date in October and he was unable to answer her calls.
“I was aggravated that my daughter was charged rent when she wasn’t in the apartment,” Kimberly Maschal said. “She was charged $1,099 for August and $1,099 for September and she wasn’t even in the apartment.”
“I left numerous messages for Matt Rinker,” Kimberly Maschal added. “It wasn’t until I left a Google review that he finally called me back. I then argued with him that we were due an abatement and that I refused to pay for an apartment we were unable to occupy. He refused, but after a half an hour of arguing my point, he said he would check into it. The next day I was told they would give a credit for August and September rent instead of $1,000 in gift cards that we still had not received.”
Some international students who signed leases through Aspen Heights directly have said this issue is exacerbated by the fact that they are stuck in Towson.
Rick van der Nat, a 24-year-old student from the Netherlands, said he has been in the Sheraton Hotel in Baltimore since Aug. 22.
“I am still living out of my suitcases since I get a different move-in date basically every week,” van der Nat said. “It is very depressing to live in a hotel room when you paid to live in an apartment.”
Van der Nat said the costs of food is adding up, since he does not have a kitchen in his hotel room. He said he just wants to be able to make his own food.
“Classes and homework are more difficult to do because I just can’t focus in this [hotel] room and the wifi is bad so sometimes I lose the connection with Zoom during class,” van der Nat said. “Receiving post [mail] is also difficult because the people at Aspen don’t bring the post to the hotel. They promise every time when I call them, but it does not happen. Only one of the few lies.”
Julian Gonzalez, a student from Costa Rica who signed through Aspen Heights directly, said he would be pursuing legal action against Aspen Heights if he could afford the cost and time. He is living in the same hotel as van der Nat.
“I feel very disrespected,” Gonzalez said. “I was promised a kitchen over a month and a half ago, I have paid three months-worth of rent for an apartment I’m not in, and I have repeatedly reached out to demand some sort of compensation. I feel scammed.”
Gonzalez said he does not want to live there and wants nothing to do with the company in the future.
“We understand the hardship faced by our residents during the delays,” Rinker said. “Each resident was given a choice on housing accommodations, of which many international residents chose to have accommodations provided by Aspen Heights at a local hotel. The expenses associated with the housing is provided by Aspen Heights – at a rate that far exceeds the monthly installment paid by the residents.”
While some students who signed through Aspen Heights directly are not receiving refunds, TU officials said they are working with students who obtained leases for Aspen Heights through Towson to make sure they were made whole.
“Towson University is processing refunds for 100% of the housing costs for fall 2020, including students who were to live at Aspen Heights, while being leased through TU,” said Matt Palmer, director of media relations at TU.
TU Housing and Residence Life reached a contract in July with Aspen Heights to own and lease two of the 14 floors in the 101 York Road building.
“TU will be working with students, including those scheduled to live at Aspen Heights, who face hardships in finding alternative on-campus housing for the remainder of the semester,” Palmer said in an email correspondence.
All students who signed through TU to live in Aspen Heights will be getting refunded for the fall semester, according to Palmer.
TU junior Telaya Thompson, who signed her lease through TU, said she called Aspen Heights to receive updates as often as she could.
“They never really had any [updates] and if they did, they would just email me,” Thompson said. According to Thompson, she was told on Aug. 17, just three days before her move-in date, that she would not be allowed to move in.
“I’m actually really annoyed with the situation,” Thompson said. “We should not have been given the option as students to live in Aspen if it was not even close to being done and it currently still is not done being built.”
Thompson was able to be moved to Carroll Hall on TU campus since she signed her lease through the school. She was told by TU she would be getting a full refund for housing for the fall semester. Despite the delays, Thompson is still hoping she can move into Aspen Heights when it’s ready for residents.
“Aspen Heights knows that delays such as the one we are experiencing are frustrating and we are doing everything we can to ease the burden during this very stressful time for our residents,” Rinker said. “We know that once moved in, our residents will love their new home. We look forward to welcoming our new residents into the building very soon.”
According to the Aspen Heights website, there are 11 different floor plans residents could choose from, ranging in price from $1,599 for a 365-square-foot studio to a $1,049 (per resident) 1,445-square-foot four-bed and four-bath apartment. Aspen Heights has 611 beds and 240 units.