This is totally batty.
A TikToker has gone viral for sharing the conditions at his so-called “luxury” apartment building in upstate New York, claiming it’s gotten him evicted in the process.
The 33-year-old man, who goes by “Donny Skipper” online, found himself in hot water for a series of videos that show broken elevators and doors, “mysterious” flooding, and even bats hanging out at The Lofts at Harmony Mills in Cohoes, north of Albany.
He said he’s shelling out $1,879 a month for a one-bedroom apartment, with the landlord looking to increase his rent to $2,004. That is, until his videos took off.
“My family and I have lived in my ‘luxury’ apartment for three years, and we’ve always paid rent on time and treated the property, staff, and neighbors with respect,” said the TikToker, who declined to share his real name with The Post because of privacy concerns.
He claims everything was going swimmingly until a year ago, when there was a large “staff turnover” and maintenance seemed to fall by the wayside.
“Things appeared to fall into a constant state of disrepair and the complex leasing office, managed by Lincoln Property Company in Dallas, TX, became a team that would be very dismissive with requests for repairs,” he told The Post.
“They always made me feel like I was in the wrong for asking for them to keep things properly maintained.”
The Post has reached out to The Lofts at Harmony Mills and management companies Cadillac Fairview and Lincoln Property Company for comment.
In a satirical clip with 2 million views, the TikToker took viewers on a tour of his “luxury” apartment complex, highlighting unexplained pools of water in the entryway, out-of-order elevators and even a stowaway bat.
“What I love about The Lofts is how the front door sometimes doesn’t work when you put your key in it,” he says in the video posted last month.
“Sometimes you do get little spillages around, but that’s luxurious, it keeps your feet clean. Even the stickiness, it makes sure you don’t slip,” he continued in the clip as he stepped around puddles.
In the second installment of his TikTok series “exposing” his “corporate landlord,” which scored over 212,000 views, he claimed he’s awoken some nights by bats in his HVAC system.
Per The Lofts website, the landlord promises a “unique combination of luxury, style and convenience,” complete with “the best and hard-to-find amenities.”
The TikToks took a turn when his landlord allegedly informed him his lease would not be renewed in May, leaving him less than three months to relocate his family.
“Anyone who follows my channel knows that I have a family — a wife and a toddler — and this corporation is forcing us out of our home,” he told The Post. “All I did was speak up about unsafe conditions.”
In his latest video, posted Saturday, the upbeat TikToker updated his captivated viewers on remodeling he says is underway at his building.
He claims construction has left nails sticking out of floor boards; the main elevator is still out of service; and the pool closed following an inspection.
He told viewers he is in the process of organizing his neighbors, with the goal of pursuing a class action lawsuit.
The TikToker claims Lincoln Property Company, which manages The Lofts at Harmony Mills, has been linked to rent pricing software from RealPage called YieldStar, which has come under fire for accusations of artificial rent inflation.
He said his landlord was looking to hike his rent by 6% for a one-year lease, before he launched his TikTok series.
“My hope is for these large corporate landlords to finally be held accountable for raising rents, getting huge profits thanks to YieldStar’s algorithm-based rental software but not taking care of the properties or the people who live there,” he told The Post.
“They shouldn’t be able to market these poorly maintained buildings as luxury.”
By: Ny Post
