News

Actions

Cleaning service waits months for thousands of dollars from apartment complex

Posted at 4:53 PM, Feb 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-12 16:54:13-05

ALLENDALE, Mich. -- Nancy Compagner said she got an urgent call for help in August when 48 West Apartments needed her janitorial services last minute as students prepared to head back to Grand Valley.

“The other cleaning lady quit. The kids were moving in that weekend," Compagner recalled.

So for $250 dollars an apartment, she and her daughter, who was six months pregnant at the time, went to work.

"Right now, I am owed $4,850,” Compagner said. [She said another $100 is owed for a future lien filing cost against the property.]

In September, a month after she finished the job and after turning in her W-9s and invoices, Compagner said she expected to get paid. But instead, she was told property management had changed hands and they would need her paperwork again.

Compagner explained, "Every time I would call them they’d say, ‘Well, we haven’t gotten your paperwork. You need to resubmit it.' And then I’d resubmit it.”

She said this continued for months with different paperwork requested each time, and each time she complied. By November, Compagner still hadn’t received any money. So she filed a lien against the property.

“At that point, I didn’t know what to do, so that’s when I contacted you guys," she said.

The FOX 17 Problem Solvers spoke with a manager at 48 West Apartments who acknowledged the situation. They said they waited for some paperwork from Compagner which caused one of the delays. The manager said the payment was approved in December but didn't go out for some unknown reason. FOX 17 was told 48 West would cut the check and overnight it to Compagner. The small business owner said she'll believe it when she sees it.

“I know that they’ve gotten the money from the parents or the kids to have those apartments cleaned, and I would like them to pay me for it because I did all the work," Compagner said.

Compagner said she calculated a total of $4,950 that is owed to her, including $250 for lien filing fees and court costs.