Santa Fe apartment complex tenants told to move due to power outage

SANTA FE, N.M. — According to tenants, all of the apartment units at the Railyard Flats in Santa Fe lost power on Friday.

Tenants said management has told them to move out by July 6.

“There’s almost zero apartment availability within 20 minutes of Santa Fe,” said Thomas Flanigan, one of the tenants. “And I mean zero. So this is a very difficult situation for 56 units.”

Tenants told KOB 4 that management did not tell them what caused the power outage – but it could take up to three months to fix.

“I thought, where are we going to live? I just moved to Santa Fe a couple of weeks ago and it took something like several months to find an apartment with an opening,” said Helen Wang, another tenant. “The thought of beginning that process all over again felt really crazy.”

Tenants have been staying in hotels and hoping to be reimbursed. Some tenants are still staying in their powerless apartments.

“This is a critical situation,” said tenant Donna Huaman-Castillo. “My daughter and I are sleeping on air mattresses, taking cold showers. They’re not even feeding us.”

Tenants want management and owners to make the situation right.

“I think that given that Greystar manages many other complexes, at the very least, they should be paying for us to stay in an apartment, paying for moving expenses, etc.,” Flanigan said.

KOB 4 reached out to the Railyard Flats for comment and received this statement:

“We have experienced unforeseen electrical issues and we are working with contractors on a permanent solution. Due to back order and supply chain issues, it could be a long term project. We understand the inconvenience this has caused for many of our residents and as a result, we are letting those impacted break their leases without penalty. In the interim, we have placed them in hotels through July 8.”