Mesa sues landlord of crime-ridden apartment complex

In early August, a middle-aged woman called Mesa police. According to court records, she said she felt unsafe in her apartment complex, known as Buenas Riverview on University. She had been followed around the complex several times.

The woman was far from alone. According to a lawsuit filed last month against the complex by the city of Mesa, Buenas Riverview is “a hotbed for criminal activity.” The suit says police are called to the complex, which is located at the corner of Dobson Road and University Drive in Mesa, on a near-nightly basis. What’s more, the building’s owners have allegedly done little to crack down on criminal activity and ensure the safety of tenants.

“Both residents and neighbors have voiced fear for their safety and frustration with the ongoing criminal activity,” the city wrote in its complaint, which was filed in Maricopa County Superior Court. Mesa is asking the court to require the owner of the apartment complex, identified as Brookview Apartment Enterprise LLC, to make changes to improve safety.

Notably, the Arizona Corporation Commission lists Angela Chiang as the manager of that LLC. Chiang also owns Buenas Communities, which is currently being sued by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for leaving tenants at one of its Phoenix properties, Buenas on 32nd, without air conditioning in the summer of 2024.

Neither Chiang nor Brookview returned requests for comment from Phoenix New Times.

According to Mesa, the scale of the illicit activity at the Buenas Riverview apartments is staggering. In an affidavit submitted to the court, Mesa police commander Dominique Sterlin said police have arrested 366 people at the apartments between the beginning of 2023 to June 30 of this year. During the same period, police made only eight arrests at the Saratoga Apartments, a property with a similar number of units that is located only 0.2 miles away. Most of the 366 arrests at Buenas Riverview were for drug and drug paraphernalia charges, but there have also been assaults — including one on an officer — thefts and two arsons over that span, according to the city’s complaint.

The city says police arrested about one person at the complex every three days for two and a half years. There have been more than 2,000 calls for service since the start of 2023, according to court documents submitted by the city. Those have included fights, people with knives and guns, shootings, thefts and dead bodies.

Per the city, responding to those calls has required a minimum of 1,836 manhours from Mesa police. Dispatching officers to the property cost the department $775,850.50 during those two and a half years, the city claims. 

“The ongoing condition of the property has resulted in a continuous drain on public resources,” the lawsuit says. “The City should not be forced to mitigate hazards and activity resulting from the (property owner’s) failure to maintain the property in a safe and lawful condition.”

Mesa police said it was unable to comment due to the pending litigation.

The city wants the court to require Brookview Apartment Enterprise to have at least two staff members on site during business hours and one apartment manager who lives on-site. It also wants the court to require Brookview to hire professional security and install security cameras, among other measures. Mesa said it has asked Brookview to make these changes, but the apartment has turned a blind eye to the rampant problems on the property. 

During a recent visit to the complex, New Times saw dogs roaming the property, a mud-filled pool and only a few security cameras. There were alcohol containers in the parking lot.

“Law enforcement personnel also observed a stark absence of preventative measures that are commonly implemented by comparable apartment complexes to deter criminal activity, protect residents, and safeguard the surrounding community,” the suit says.

A history of lawsuits

This isn’t the first time a government entity has sued over the Buenas Riverview apartments.

Until last month, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office was also in litigation against Brookview Apartment Enterprise over the complex. The county attorney’s concerns were very similar to Mesa’s, citing the sheer number of arrests and calls for service and the poor conditions at the property. Its complaint noted exposed electrical wire, empty fire extinguishers, circuit breaker issues and stagnant pool water at Buenas Riverview.

In its complaint, the county attorney’s office said Brookview “made the premises indecent, disgraceful, and intolerable.” Atop that complaint, Deputy Maricopa County Attorney Peter Spaw listed lyrics from “Master of the House,” a number from the Broadway musical “Les Misérables” that’s sung by two low-rent innkeepers who rob their patrons:

“Master of the house, keeper of the zoo. Ready to relieve them of a sou or two. Watering the wine, making up the weight. Pickin’ up their knick-knacks when they can’t see straight. Everybody loves a landlord. Everybody’s bosom friend. I do whatever pleases Jesus! Won’t I bleed ‘em in the end!”

Last month, however, the county attorney settled with Brookview and agreed to dismiss its suit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. New Times has requested the terms of that settlement but has not yet received them.

That settlement is at the crux of Brookview’s defense in the suit brought by Mesa. The attorney for the apartment complex, Jordan Wolff, has asked the judge to toss Mesa’s complaint because the complex and the county attorney have already settled over the same issues. In a court filing, Wolff claimed that the county and city are unable to both sue for the same reason when a case is dismissed with prejudice.

“This case is déjà vu,” Wolff wrote. “It is not a novel action but a second attempt to prosecute Brookview Apartments for the very same alleged “criminal nuisance” that Maricopa County already pursued, litigated, and dismissed with prejudice.”

Wolff did not respond to New Times’ requests for comment.

In a response to Wolff’s motion filed earlier this month, Mesa noted that the city and county are separate entities that have no control over each other’s litigation. Mesa was not a party to the suit that the county attorney settled, and a court never ruled on the merits of the case anyway. Notably, the city is suing for a violation of residential nuisance law, while the county attorney sued over commercial nuisance law.

No ruling has been issued on the motion to dismiss.

The county attorney’s case may have settled, but Chiang still faces litigation over a different property of hers. (Chiang has a lot of them, apparently. She is listed in state records as the owner of about 50 other LLCs.) In the summer of 2024, Chiang’s Buenas Communities LLC made headlines after it allegedly left residents at its Buenas on 32nd apartments without working air conditioning for nearly two months. Residents told New Times it was “like living in an oven,” and at least one resident was hospitalized. The complex had also received 105 code violations from the city of Phoenix between 2017 and 2024.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes gave the Buenas on 32nd complex an ultimatum to fix the air conditioning by a certain time or face legal action, a threat Mayes carried through by ultimately suing Buenas Communities. Mayes is seeking the business death penalty for the landlord, which would prevent Buenas Communities from operating in Arizona. That case is ongoing.

Even if Mayes wins that case, Buenas Riverview may be unaffected, as it is technically owned by a different entity. Mayes’ office declined a request to comment on the Buenas on 32nd case and on Mesa’s case against Buenas Riverview.