Board denies Westland reimbursement request for $80,000 repipe at 948 S. Englewood after tenants report ongoing leaks and mold

Lupe Dominguez, representing Westland Real Estate Group, asked the board to approve a capital-improvement pass-through for a full-property repipe completed in November 2021, which Dominguez said totaled about $80,000 and benefited 22 units but applied for reimbursement for 11 units. "In response, ownership proactively completed a full property repipe project in November 2021, totaling approximately $80,000," Dominguez told the board.

Multiple tenants testified that problems persisted after the repipe. A resident who identified himself earlier in the meeting (speaker label 5) said he moved into the building in August 2018 and described brown, smelly water and decades-overdue repairs, saying, "I wouldn't consider an upgrade. I would consider it a long overdue repair." Nicole Tate, who lives in Apartment 5 at 948 S. Englewood Ave, said she has had recurring leaks since 2019 and described a recent March leak that left her without a usable bathroom over a weekend; she presented videos and photos and said she believed mold remained after last month’s work.

Board members and management debated whether reported post-repipe incidents were logged as service requests; management said records show no service requests after the repipe but acknowledged it had separate water and sewer systems and an emergency on-call maintenance program. Board members pressed for dates and documentation; staff played tenant-submitted videos demonstrating active leaks and visible damage. Following discussion, a board member moved to deny the pass-through reimbursement and the board voted to deny the petition (case 25-0-0010).

The board’s denial leaves the reimbursement request rejected; tenants and management were given a public forum to record concerns and responses at the hearing.