Bridger Heights residents speak out against unsafe and unsanitary living conditions

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Many residents of Bridger Heights, a low-income housing complex in Bozeman, say they’ve lived in unsafe and unsanitary conditions for years, and on Friday they banded together to demand change from their landlord.

Tenants were joined by Bozeman Tenants United, as well as Bozeman City Commissioner Emma Bode and Deputy Mayor Joey Morrison as they officially formed the tenants union.

These tenants say they lived with black mold, leaking ceilings and walls, radon exposure, faulty electricity, broken appliances and windows, and that their requests for maintenance went unanswered or were met with retaliation and threats of eviction.

“We need to be heard and speak the truth about what is happening in our lives at the hands of our landlords,” said Delisa de Vargas, a Bridger Heights resident and member of the newly formed tenants union.

But Friday’s event turned heated when residents marched to the doors of the management office to tape their list of demands, which includes compensation for exposure to unsafe conditions and an end to crackdowns and no-cause evictions.

That’s when property manager Laura Manners arrived and announced she was calling the police.

When police arrived at the scene, the group dispersed. Manners declined to comment on the incident.

Tom Daniels, executive vice president of 11 Residential, the company that manages Bridger Heights, said they were not aware of the requirements before the event, that there was no retaliation against residents and that the building is inspected annually. .

“We just received 91% of the NSPIRE HUD audit results,” Daniels said. “We are proud that Bridger Heights leadership cares about our residents.”

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s National Property Physical Inspection Standards rate the health and safety of public housing on a 100-point scale. A score of 91 is an A.

But residents shared several photos with NBC Montana showing black mold inside their apartments.

“The mold in the basement apartments is worse than in the apartments above, so I guess that makes me one of the lucky ones,” said Ozaa EchoMaker, a Bridger Heights resident and member of the tenants union. “But that’s not really the case.”

EchoMaker has lived in Bridger Heights for five years. She says the presence of black mold is a health concern for both her and her five-year-old daughter, as well as other vulnerable residents.

“Almost the vast majority of apartments have children,” EchoMaker said. “Those who do not have children, are disabled or elderly, have a fixed income and are breathing black mold spores.”

But Bridger Heights resident Evelyn Littlefield, who has lived in the building for a decade, says the tenants’ union’s views don’t reflect those of many residents.

“Every place has black mold,” Littlefield told NBC Montana. “Do you know what you’re doing? You chop an onion and place a bowl here and there around your house, but it’s not there. Everything became clear. I do it myself.”

Littlefield says she’s grateful to have a place to call home, and instead of helping, she fears the demands of the tenants’ union could put it at risk.

“I need a home, my kids need a home,” Littlefield said. “Why put everyone else at risk and danger?”

NBC Montana was able to verify that 29 of the 50 apartments that make up Bridger Heights have joined a tenants’ union. These tenants say if they don’t get a response to their demands, they are prepared to escalate the situation.

According to Bozeman Tenants United organizers, 11 Capital received $6.7 million in federal funding to purchase Bridger Heights and is now in the process of selling the property at a profit to a new ownership group that will include HRDC and the Good Housing Partnership.

“Some of the most vulnerable people in our community, seniors living on fixed incomes, people with disabilities, single parents who are struggling to make ends meet and having to make very difficult decisions about whether they can feed themselves , afford the rent. or allow themselves to take care of other needs that they have—those are the people who have decided that corporations like 11 Capital and others are exactly the type of positions I want in my investment portfolio,” Morrison said. “They specifically decided that the most vulnerable people in our community are the people they can prey on, prey on and extort as much money as possible.”

Morrison praised residents for forming a union, calling it one of the most effective and sustainable ways to drive change.

City Commissioner Bode echoed that sentiment and said current and future landlords have a responsibility to provide safe living conditions on the property, and if they fail to do so, they should be held accountable.

“The Deputy Mayor and I are aware of and monitoring this situation, and we stand ready to work with our colleagues on the commission to take action and work within our legal authority as a municipality if conditions in Bridger Heights do not improve,” Bode said .