Tree Clear Cutting Shenanigans of Fort Worth's Havenwood Apartment's New Owner

See that faded X on the tree trunk? That tree trunk is located at the Havenwood Apartment complex at 6501 Boca Raton Boulevard in Fort Worth, Texas.

A couple years ago this property was sold to Mahesh P. Desai, operating out of Gaithersburg, Maryland, managing an investment firm called Capital Vision Management.

Mr. Desai had the vision to come to Texas and set up a subsidiary called Atlantic Multi Family IV which then bought the Havenwood Apartments, whose address is oddly listed in public records as the corporate headquarters of Atlantic Multi Family.

Soon after Mahesh Desai assumed ownership of the Havenwood Apartments tenants found a note on their door informing them that the trees of Havenwood were about to be cut down. A mass execution of dozens of trees which provided cooling shade and were aesthetically pleasing.

The residents of Havenwood were not happy to learn the Havenwood forest was about to be clear cut. Complaints were made to the Fort Worth agency which oversees things like trees.

Looking North at the Saved Havenwood Trees

The Havenwood Apartment complex is split in two by Boca Raton Blvd. The tree slaughter began on the south side of Boca Raton before the city was able to put a stop to it. However, the trees on the north side of Boca Raton, for the most part, were spared.

That note two years ago, about the clear cutting of the Havenwood trees, also said that new trees would be planted, along with new landscaping.

Well, let's take a look at the clear cut,  tree-less side of Havenwood.

But first, regarding the Havenwood clear cut, there is a website which rates apartments. The section about Havenwood on that website has generated more than a couple dozen reviews, including the one below regarding the Havenwood trees....

I was saddened to hear that virtually all the trees at Havenwood are to be unceremoniously chopped down. It's my opinion that this is nothing less that vandalism on a large scale. I will concede to the possibility of a few trees damaging foundations etc but not all of them. Majestic old trees will be lost. After scores of years they are to become sawdust in minutes. The color scheme of the buildings, though pleasing to the eye is such that dirt, dust and grime sticks to the rails and beams in the stairwells. Without the cover of trees this will become more evident and unless the new owners are to hose down the buildings on a regular basis the whole property will, in my opinion become a drab, dirty premises.The back of the property already looks dilapidated with no grass or decent plant life and it's been that way for years.

Consider also that without trees we'll have few, if any birds, no Jays, no Hummingbirds, no Mockingbirds and no Cardinals. Management says the whole area will be replanted with grass, plants and flowers. We'll see. In any event, no trees will mean, to me a barren land, a dust bowl full of drab brown buildings with every inch of the property looking exactly the same save for a few small Crape Myrtles here and there. 

So....new owners, drive your new investment into the ground if you will, give it the same reputation as some of the other properties I read about on this road (Boca Raton) and this website. I was happy here but it's deteriorated a lot. I think it may be time to start looking.
And now a look at how Havenwood looks in June of 2014....

First off below we are looking at part of what the person above referred to as the dilapidated back of the property

A tall leafy tree once stood above the barren spot you see, un-landscaped, above.

Several trees used to provide shade and block the morning sun from glaring into the windows you see here.

It's been two years and the three trees which were removed from the above location have not been replaced by any new trees, or any new landscaping.

Below is another view of the now barren south side of the Havenwood Apartments.

A row of trees stood along the east side of the above Havenwood location, and again, we note no new trees and no new landscaping.

Now, let's walk across Boca Raton to the north side of the property, where most of the trees were spared, and where, oddly, some new landscaping has taken place, unlike the now bleakly barren south side.

Below you see an area where several trees were removed, replaced with some shrubs, big rocks and gravel, making for a landscaping style one might see in a desert area, like Las Vegas or Phoenix.

The very oddest new landscaping element which has only been added to the northside of the property is large areas have been covered with thick layers of small, pea-sized rocks, which create quite a hazard when they spill on to steps and sidewalks.

The above makes one have a lot of confidence that the new Havenwood owner knows what he is doing, property improvement-wise.

Below is a look at another area covered with little rocks.

In the center of the above graveled area you are looking at one of the "saved" trees. You can barely see its "X" marked for execution spot.

When the trees were initially marked for execution the color used was white, making the "X's" very noticeable. After the stop the executions order was given eventually the "X's" were painted over with a brown color matching the bark color, to varying degrees of success.

Well, that concludes this look at the new landscaping at the Havenwood Apartments. Next we will take a look at how Mahesh P. Desai and his Capital Vision is turning Havenwood into the Spirit Airlines of apartment complexes.....

The Curious History Of Fort Worth's Havenwood Apartment's Water Allocation Billing

When the majority of the residents who live in Fort Worth's Havenwood Apartments took up residence, water was included in the rent.

And then a few years ago residents were informed they would be receiving a water bill, but not a bill based on their own metered consumption, but instead a bill based on some formula factoring all residents together.

Residents were told that this new billing was an effort to conserve water by motivating residents to monitor their water use, and thus help keep rents from rising.

Trouble is, well, the Havenwood property had not raised rents in a long long time. Not in any current resident's memory. Til after the water bills arrived. Along with a new property owner, Capital Vision Management and its owner, Mahesh P. Desai.

So, the save water to save money argument seemed just a bit specious. No one remembers the name of the first Havenwood water billing company. The amount billed matched that which the leases indicated residents would be charged, as evidenced by the below item from a lease from that initial water allocation billing period.

Initially, with the first water allocation billing company, the bill was never higher than what you see indicated above. And then, without warning, without tenant consent, without an explanation of a change to the billing formula, the billing company was switched to a company called NES.

National Exemption Service.

Immediately, with no explanation, the first bill from NES took a BIG jump, for a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment, going from the $20 range to the $32 range. With each subsequent bill the amount increased, again, with no explanation, in violation of TCEQ rules.

At one point notice was given that the NES billing would be covering a longer billing period, in order to catch the billing period up to being more concurrent with the rent due date.

Huh?

So, how did it happen that residents had been water back billed months prior to their rent due date? It was not the resident's choice as to when to begin water billing. And such billing could only begin with the inception of a new lease. The high point for an NES bill during their catch up period, for a two bedroom, two bath apartment was over $50.

Do the words "fraud" and "racketeering" mean anything to anyone?

At the top you see the final bill for a two bedroom two bath apartment from NES before, with no notice, and mid-lease, in clear violation of TCEQ rules, once again the water allocation billing company was switched. This time to an entity called Comptrol Technologies.

More on Comptrol Technologies' reputation in a subsequent article.

As you can see below, the first bill from Comptrol Technologies took an over $10 jump from the previous NES bill. Again, with no explanation, again, mid-lease, again, without tenant consent and again, in violation of TCEQ rules.

And now, in the latest iteration of a Havenwood Lease, in the section pertaining to water billing, we see a drastic change to the information regarding the average amounts billed...

Clearly, Fort Worth has not doubled the amount it charges for water. It is highly unlikely Havenwood residents have doubled their water usage. Particularly when they are supposedly being motivated to save water in order to save money.

So, what is the explanation for the BIG increase in the dollar amount being billed?

TCEQ, as in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, requires an explanation.

We are in the process of trying to obtain that required explanation. In the meantime, the aforementioned "fraud" and "racketeering" explanation would seem to be the most logical explanation to explain the inexplicable....