Monica Yant Kinney: Tenants left in the cold - and consult a lawyer

I had hoped to wait a month or so to deliver a good-news update about the not-so-luxurious living conditions at the Marquis apartments in King of Prussia.

Residents at the pricey 641-unit hilltop complex griped in a recent column about rodent infestation, broken elevators, and frequent losses of hot water, heat, and air-conditioning. Tenants and Upper Merion code-enforcement officers voiced concern about the Marquis's Boston-based owners' commitment to fixing chronic problems.

Management was kind enough to show me renovated units and the fitness center as proof of $4 million in recent upgrades. District manager Peggy DeCaro vowed to improve communication with tenants.

"From a lightbulb to a leak," she declared, "I take it seriously."

Shortly thereafter, many of the 1,200 residents shivered through the coldest day of the winter.

"When I woke up last Saturday," 25-year-old graphic designer Leroy Nunery III reported, "there was no heat." I was assured that a broken pipe had been quickly fixed, but as of Friday, some tenants were still complaining of cold apartments.

Last week, a group of Marquis tenants met with Philadelphia lawyer Angela Giampolo, who may represent them in legal action.

"We're investigating their rights under the Landlord Tenant Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act, Federal Fair Housing Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, due to potential discrimination based on nationality," she told me. At a minimum, Giampolo thinks, tenants deserve rent abatements.

The lawyer may find more clients at the Colonade, a 535-unit complex in Jenkintown owned by the same company, Metropolitan Properties of America.

Like the Marquis, the Colonade advertises "luxury living" with "personal concierge service" and other amenities in "one of Philadelphia's most affluent neighborhoods."

Like the Marquis, the Colonade's big, old buildings can be hard to heat and cool.

Abington Township code-enforcement director Larry Matteo has not cited the Colonade for any violations. He told me that his staff received occasional "nuisance complaints" about the apartments, mostly from older tenants upset with younger neighbors or from those dissatisfied with response time from management.

Marshall Jones, an 88-year-old World War II veteran, moved into the Colonade in 1997 when it seemed posh, featured 24-hour security, and "was filled with doctors and lawyers with live-in servants." Today, Jones would be happy to have locked entrances and a full-time front-desk staffer with a phone in case of emergencies.

Darlene Sheppard, a 74-year-old with a walker, wishes she could count on her building's elevators, two-thirds of which have been broken all month.

"I got stuck in them twice," she shared. "If I can't get on an elevator, I can't get out of here."

Sheppard was tickled to receive unexpected memos from management last week. One, from DeCaro, invited her to a reception. The other asked "if everything was OK" and stressed that "we appreciate having you as a resident."

On Friday, a Metropolitan executive named Sofia Iglesias e-mailed a two-page criticism of my first column, calling it "negative" and "one-sided." She asked my editors to postpone this piece for 60 days so I could get "the positive aspects of the broader story."

"In fact," Iglesias wrote, "I understand that many residents who enjoy their living experience have mobilized to share their positive opinions after learning another negative column may be in the works."

So that explains all the unsolicited e-mails and calls I received from people claiming to be content tenants. Don't believe the cranks, they said in unison. This place is great!

I spoke with Enrico Bianchini by phone Thursday night, even before his landlord asked me to. The friendly, 54-year-old advertising executive told me that he has lived in the Colonade for 11 years, staying for the reasonable rent, the location, and the design of his unit.

"Let's be realistic: The owners are in business to make a buck," he said. "They clearly instruct their people to try to save everywhere possible, to hold off [on improvements] whenever possible."

So while Bianchini would prefer that all the elevators worked at all times, it's not the end of his world when a few are off-line.

Bianchini suspects that even the Colonade's critics would admit that, while it's not perfect, it's good enough.

As for the Marquis?

"If this place was as bad as the one you were describing," he said, "I would have been out of here in a second flat."

It remains to be seen if residents flee. Stay tuned.

And if you happen to live in either complex, stay warm - and consider taking the stairs.

Contact Monica Yant Kinneyat myant@phillynews.com

or 215-854-4670.

Read her recent work at http://go.philly.com/yantkinney.