Concerns Mount Over Trash and Possible Collective Floor Penalties at the Dean Reno
A resident at The Dean Reno on Virginia Street is expressing concern after receiving notices that “any trash found piled in a trash room will result in a $250 fine charged to ALL residents on that floor,” wondering if this is even allowed. Flyers were posted and messages were sent from the Dean Reno Management with this new stated policy.
“This policy is being enforced due to the continued misuse of the trash facilities and the impact it has on cleanliness, safety and the overall living environment,” an emailed message indicates. “Please ensure that all trash is properly disposed of down the chute and that trash rooms are left clean after each use.”
“While the lease and resident handbook do require tenants to properly dispose of trash and allow management to impose “reasonable fines” for violations, there is no language that supports for a collective punishment of an entire floor for the actions of one or a few individuals,” the concerned tenant wrote Our Town Reno.
“The agreement specifies that residents may be fined for violations caused by “you or your guests” which clearly implies individual responsibility and NOT group liability,” saying there could be over 85 people per floor, which would mean a huge sum of money per floor if these fines are imposed and collected.
“I personally, along with several other residents I know have received lease violation fines that we believe were issued in error. When these violations are challenged, management has stated they must rely on a third party to review security footage and we have to reach back via email. In ALL of these cases that I am aware of, that review has reportedly found no evidence that a violation occurred,” they added.
“This raises serious concerns that fines and enforcement actions may be issued based on assumptions rather than verified incidents. Residents are being put in a position where they must dispute charges that may not have been substantiated in the first place which creates unnecessary stress and financial risk, especially for those that don’t understand how leasing an apartments works or understand lease violations/evictions and are just trying to get through school," they also wrote as part of their message.
A part of their lease they sent in their communications with Our Town Reno has a description of common areas but no mention of collective responsibility for trash areas.
Another resident, a student who pays about $900 a month to live there with three other roommates also paying that amount, told Our Town Reno there was also recently an issue with key fobs being replaced with new ones, and then tenants being fined when they no longer had the old ones, not knowing initially these would need to be returned.
We called The Dean Reno who told us to email a general manager who has not responded to our email yet. We will update the story if they do.
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