A Bedford woman is demanding answers after water damage at a Beachwood apartment destroyed her deceased friend’s property.
Deanna Starks showed up at The Vue, 23220 Chagrin Blvd, on Monday to clean out her deceased friend’s apartment who died just before Christmas. Starks was already grieving, and it only got worse.
Ripped up floors and water damaged ceilings highlight the open space in Dana Marshall-Bernstein's apartment. She came to Cleveland for treatment for Crohn’s Disease a few years ago.
Complications led her to hospice care before she died in December.
"We became best friends because Dana's awesome,” said Starks.
Starks walked through the door on Monday to find her friend's apartment stripped bare. Flooding from broken sprinkler pipes ruined most of what Bernstein left in her apartment.
“It's unacceptable,” said Starks. “There's no decency with this.”
Starks says her main problem is with The Vue.
"They just threw this door, this light fixture, just to throw whatever stuff in there with her things,” said Starks, reaching through a plastic divider sectioning off the damaged area. “I have two grieving parents and I called her mom and all she kept saying was, ‘Where's my daughter's stuff?”
Monday, we showed you the letter management sent to residents, promising to maintain their high standards after a series of fire alarms and flooding.
Residents say the apology falls short and they want management to help them move, or let them out of their leases.
Starks says she's being stonewalled too.
Management in the building hasn't done much for her, and calls she's made to their bosses have gone unanswered.
“They're either quiet and they'll let me know or sorry,” said Starks. “That’s all they have to say about this.”
News 5 reached out to the company that operates the apartment for comment but so far have not heard back.
