Attorney General Kris Mayes is demanding the property owners of four apartment complexes in Tucson and South Tucson show they are addressing “serious health and safety issues” after being issued a cease-and-desist letters regarding repairs that were slow or not completed.
Brian and Margeaux Bowers are the owners of all four properties Mayes is targeting with a cease-and-desist letter:
— Spanish Trail Suites, 305 E. Benson Hwy.
— Sixth Avenue Suites, 3020 S. Sixth Ave.
— Oasis Apartments, 2550 N. Dodge Blvd.
— Eucalyptus Apartments, 3055 N. Tyndall Ave., south of East Fort Lowell Road
In the letters issued Aug. 29, Mayes’ office required “immediate action” to a host of issues at the four properties, including “broken or low-functioning air conditioning, potential mold growth, suspected asbestos disturbance, exposed wires, evidence of rodent and pest infestations, and broken windows, roof tiles, and doorways.” As of Wednesday, the office “continues to demand proof of repairs.”
Failure to fix the problems quickly could force the owners to “offer and provide alternative remedies,” such as a place for renters to stay at no cost.
The Tucson Tenant Union organized an outdoor spaghetti dinner in May after residents of Spanish Trail Suites had gone for days without air conditioning.
“Tenants in Arizona have the right to live in safe, livable homes,” Mayes said in a news release. “Broken air conditioning, suspected asbestos, and rodent infestations are not minor issues — they are threats to health and safety. My office will not hesitate to take legal action against landlords who put profits over people and ignore their obligations under the law.”
“These alarming and dangerous conditions, created through extreme neglect and mismanagement, place residents at imminent risk of serious injury, hospitalization, or death,” the office said. “Refusal to provide habitable conditions for their tenants at these properties is both unlawful and unacceptable.”
As of Wednesday, some of the repairs had been made, but documentation of others was still pending, the office said.
Mayes’ office inspected Spanish Trail Suites, Oasis Apartments and Eucalyptus Apartments on Aug. 22. Prior to those inspections, investigators from the Attorney General’s Office “conducted a site visit” of Sixth Avenue Apartments, the office said in its cease-and-desist letter.
The South Tucson apartments — Spanish Trail Suites and Sixth Avenue Suites — have been a hot topic for officials in the square-mile city for years.
In February last year, South Tucson sued the Bowers for allegedly allowing criminal activity to continue taking place at their properties throughout 2023.
In May, an arson left residents of Spanish Trail Suites without power for days, prompting South Tucson to file another lawsuit to force a cleanup of debris from the property due to past fires.
South Tucson’s Spanish Trail Suites is one of four properties Attorney General Kris Mayes has ordered get repairs for problems that are “serious health and safety issues” for residents.
Even worse, the office said, the Bowers “do little to warn or protect residents from these serious health hazards.” The office says instead of finding anything online relating to notifications or warnings to “would-be tenants about these serious, ongoing issues,” it instead found pictures of advertisements of the various apartments that “imply the opposite.”
“Advertisements for the Oasis promise ‘a combination of style and comfort’ with access to ‘top features and amenities.’ Spanish Trail Apartments guarantee ‘air conditioning,’ while its units sit at 101 degrees Fahrenheit. And the photographs Sixth Avenue Suites boasts in its online advertisements are so far removed from reality that it borders on absurdity,” the office said.
The online advertising “may constitute violations” of the state’s Consumer Fraud Act, and the Bowers may also be engaging in unfair business practices, the office said. Violating the Consumer Fraud Act can bring penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, “disgorgement of profits,” and requiring violators to pay restitution to tenants, the office said.
Additionally, the office also demands that the Bowers and their four apartment complexes “immediately comply” with the Landlord Tenant Act as well as Tucson and South Tucson city codes.
South Tucson Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela said she was “celebrating all day” Thursday after she heard the news. She said city staff found out last month the Attorney General’s Office was investigating and “our staff has been working with them to help get all the information” needed.
“We were putting a little pressure on the Attorney General’s Office to help us. We have very limited resources here in South Tucson ... (Mayes) came to the rescue right when we needed her,” Valenzuela said. “(Bowers) refuses to address some of the major concerns that the city and his residents have requested that he fix, especially the undignified living conditions. Some of the most vulnerable people in our community live there, and they have to endure that.
“We’re just really grateful for our partners, especially the (Attorney General’s) Office, and Pima County and the city of Tucson for helping us. I think with these partners, we’re going to have a fighting chance of building a safer, healthier community,” she said.
Neither Bowers nor his attorney immediately responded Thursday for comment.
