Smart Management Mark Smart Jay Peterson Mark Smart's employee Jay Peterson failed to do his job. His irresponsibility and negligence caused many losses and complications. West Des Moines Iowa

SMART MANAGEMENT: WEST DES MOINES, IOWA.

Bottom line: what my daughter and I went through was flat-out horrible; but what was worse was nobody took any responsibility for it. When our original landlords sold the apartment complex, tenants were given notices to direct all future communications, rent payments, etc., to Smart Management. Not long after, our basement apartment started to leak. As I didn’t have a phone, I borrowed one and left a message, and then followed it up with an email. I received a prompt reply: in an email stating "Mark Smart” in the 'from’ section, the email said someone would be over to check on it. The email was signed "Jay Peterson, Property Manager.”

These back-and-forth emails went on for around 6 months, each time saying someone would come over. Then Mr. Peterson stopped replying entirely. For more than 3 additional months I heard nothing at all, until a new management company took over. During the entire time Smart Management was in charge, no one came to the apartment to check on the situation, much less do anything about it. During that period of time, leaking escalated into all-out flooding. Water gushed into the kitchen, living room, and my daughter’s bedroom. The moisture brought in swarms of gnats, I found maggots in the carpet, and virtually everything was damaged or completely destroyed by water and mold. We developed health issues from living in that unsafe environment. The odor was horrible. I lost work time and income because my work computer had mold in it and blew out. I incurred extra expenses, such as higher utility bills from trying to dry the carpets.

By the time I was able to move out, almost everything was so damaged that it ended up in the dumpster. Yet I continued to pay rent every month for an apartment no reasonable person would have considered fit to live in. I also told Mr. Peterson the original landlords had said I could move to a different apartment if I ever wanted to; he said he’d check into it, but didn’t follow through with that, either. None of these losses and complications would have occurred if Mr. Peterson had done his job. But he clearly had no concern for the health and safety of tenants, or our personal property.

I was not too surprised to see numerous reviews of Smart Management- all negative- on various reviews sites, from owners and tenants alike. If Smart Management was a responsible company, I would have been offered fair compensation for what happened. I never even received an apology. Mr. Peterson simply went on his merry way. I don’t know whether Mr. Smart was never informed of the situation, or whether he was ok with the shabby way Mr. Peterson treated some of his tenants.