‘Kicked out within two days’: Stadium View residents scramble after bedrooms deemed unsafe

In late September and early October, residents of Stadium View Apartments, an off-campus student complex on South 11th Avenue, began receiving notices that their bedrooms had been declared structurally unsafe and their leases terminated. Some residents were given as little as two to three days to move out.

Representatives from the City of Bozeman said structural engineers identified several individual sleeping units that had unsafe conditions. The city’s chief building official ordered those rooms vacated immediately. For students living in those rooms, it meant a desperate scramble as midterms approached. 

Suzanne Clawson, a former Stadium View resident, was not immediately impacted by the lease terminations as her room was not deemed unsafe initially. However, her roommate was living in one of the rooms that was deemed unsafe by the city. 

According to Clawson, residents received an email on a Monday saying structural inspections would take place on the buildings and that no one would need to be present. The next morning, her roommate texted her: a letter had been taped to her door saying her lease was terminated and she had to be out of the apartment by Thursday at 5 p.m. The letter cited structural integrity and said the room was unsafe to live in, Clawson said. 

Of the four people in the apartment, her roommate was the only one told to leave, even though the two roommates’ bedrooms shared a wall. This notice gave tenants just four days to navigate the stress of moving out. 

“I had originally moved in to be her roommate, and I was not about to stay in a place where I could be kicked out within two days so I decided I would also be moving out,” Clawson said in an interview with theExponent.

She said Stadium View gave her until Sunday — five days — to leave and told her she could break her lease without penalty through the end of October. Her roommate found space for the two of them to sign a lease at The Arrow, the apartment complex across the street.

“The entire ordeal was extremely stressful,” Clawson said. “I had to take time off work to move, and Stadium offered absolutely no support.”

She described staff as “rude” and said they placed blame on the City of Bozeman rather than taking responsibility for housing students in rooms she believes the company knew were not structurally sound.

Siding construction had been visible since the start of her lease, she said, and multiple buildings had been emptied of residents about a month before. She said she should have heeded warnings from others, but the complex’s convenience and price were “too enticing.”

In a statement issued through Communications and Engagement Director Takami Clark, the City of Bozeman said that structural engineers working with Stadium View have identified several individual sleeping units within the apartment complex with unsafe structural conditions and have recommended that the affected units be unoccupied. 

According to Clark, the chief building official enforced the International Existing Building Code, which deemed the affected individual units unsafe. This determination requires the identified units to be immediately vacated.

“We empathize with our residents who have been displaced due to conditions of the property; however, safety is our top priority,” the statement read. “We encourage residents who have been impacted by this to reach out to Stadium View management with questions.”

The statement did not say when the conditions were discovered, how many rooms were affected or whether they were known before students moved in during August. 

Stadium View and its management company, Atlanta-based PeakMade Real Estate, did not respond to inquiries from the Exponent. 

The fall notices were not the first displacement at the complex. Over the summer, residents of two buildings were released from their leases and told to relocate for repairs that management tied to original construction deficiencies.

The property is also involved in federal foreclosure litigation brought by the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, and a court-appointed receiver has been overseeing the property according to gov.Info. 

Under the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, landlords must follow building and housing codes that materially affect health and safety, and must make whatever repairs are needed to keep a rental “fit and habitable.”

The Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA), a nonprofit that provides free civil legal help, said a tenant may only remain in a rental if it is legal to do so, and may not be able to stay in one that has been condemned or deemed unsafe. That guidance is written for damage from disasters such as fires and floods, and MLSA advises renters to talk to a lawyer before withholding or deducting rent.

Once a lease ends, a landlord has 10 days to return a security deposit with no deductions and 30 days to return it with an itemized list of any deductions, according to MLSA. For MSU students impacted, ASMSU Student Legal Services offers free appointments to students enrolled in at least seven credits, according to MSU’s Off-Campus Student Life office, and MLSA provides free help to eligible Montanans.

Some displaced residents, including Clawson and her roommate, have landed at The Arrow, which a leasing agent told NBC Montana has no formal relocation agreement with Stadium View. 

According to NBC Montana, one student’s family said his rent rose from $850 a month to nearly $1,050 after the move.

Clawson said she hopes future students look past Stadium View’s marketing and remember how the company treated residents it displaced in the middle of the academic year.

“If this situation proves anything, it proves [Stadium View] has no regard for their residents as individuals, and will prioritize their profits over safety and well-being of their residents,” she said.