Stewart Court Apartments

I am writing to share my experience as a long-term resident of Stewart Court Apartments, in the hope that it offers insight into how current practices are impacting tenants. Stewart Court has been a place of stability for me during an exceptionally uncertain time. Amid rapid development downtown, economic shifts, and the global pandemic. It has truly been a home. I have taken pride in being a responsible tenant with a strong payment history. However, After loosing my job of 20 years due to unforeseen closure of the business, frequent rent increases (approximately every six months) over the last few years. have created ongoing financial strain. While I understand rising costs, the cumulative effect has been difficult to sustain. I have also noted that advertised average rents are listed around $1,197, yet my rent has consistently been significantly higher. During this particularly challenging period, I lost my job and came very close to losing my housing. While actively seeking assistance, my unit was listed for rent at approximately $200 less than what I was paying. ( I have screenshot proof of this) my neighbors at SC came to inquire about viewing it while I was still living there. This was hard and humiliating and deeply distressing during an already vulnerable time. A month ago I was given notice that in September my rent will once again be increased. Given my hardship and the time it took to regain stable employment, I had hoped for some flexibility or consideration. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to affordable housing, I believe it is important to reflect on how policies align with the lived experiences of tenants. Situations like mine raise questions about consistency, transparency, and the broader mission of affordability. I share this respectfully and with some hesitation, because I value my housing and community and fear retaliation. My purest intention is to offer perspective that may help strengthen the organization’s impact.

So now we're going on the second week of both elevators not working. The first one went out of service about 4 months ago and never got fixed even though being out of service for over 4 months the second one is also out leaving the entire building without elevators going on 2 weeks now. I really hope they can get fixed as soon as possible.