SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – South Dakotans are often known for taking care of each other, and in Sioux Falls, tenants continue to cite concerns about their living conditions at Tzadik Management properties, an out-of-state company.

On Tzadik’s website, CEO Adam Hendry’s bio says he focuses on “relationships with tenants that cause them to be raving fans.” In Sioux Falls, Tzadik and Hendry may be hard-pressed to find accolades from tenants to the Mayor’s office.

Not knowing what or who would be in the common areas of her apartment was stressful for Jennifer Esculano.

“I’d have homeless people come in and they’d pass out in the hallways, would come and plug their phone in and sit in my hallway, charging their phones,” Esculano explained.

It’s one of several issues Esculano raised during her eight months living in an apartment owned by Tzadik Properties.

Mayor Paul TenHaken keeps track of who is filing concerns with the Compliance Office.

“Tzadik specifically has had a lot of complaints over the last several years,” Mayor TenHaken said. “Stuff gets reported, it’ll get taken care of, but only the stuff that gets reported.”

For a tenant of any property in Sioux Falls, the standards are the same, and the city wants to help.

“Reach out to the city first. That should be your first step. We can then do an inspection. We can go we can start a ticket, we can start a case and we can try and hold bad actors accountable,” Mayor TenHaken explained.

The Mayor is having more conversations with Hendry and others at Tzadik.

“They’ve expressed interest in being proactive and being out in front and wanting to be more active in the community, better corporate citizens, but then when the opportunity presents itself, that’s not the case. And so the audio and the video aren’t matching up here and that’s always a problem for me,” Mayor TenHaken said.

Our investigative team spoke with a California man who was hired by the Sioux Falls PR firm Tallgrass. He said the Mayor didn’t understand how many units Tzadik owned in the city, and the Mayor is now less concerned, knowing those raising complaints are a small percentage of renters.

“The Mayor very much understands how many units they own. But Beth, I’ll tell you this. When you buy a portfolio of properties that are low-income properties, you need to know you need to be prepared to live in that space and work in that space. Okay. And if you can’t effectively manage low-income properties and workforce housing, then you shouldn’t be in that space,” Mayor TenHaken emphasized.

The South Dakota Attorney General’s Office may also be helpful to tenants.

“And the tenants have rights to that go even beyond the contract, and that is that if the repairs aren’t being made, after the tenant provides written notice after a reasonable period of time, the tenant can make those repairs or have the repairs made and either take that off the rent or put the money in a separate account to be addressed at a later date,” Attorney General Marty Jackley explained.

Esculano saved up to pay for housing in two places, allowing her to get out of her Tzadik apartment right away.

“And these properties that manage and keep their apartments this way, they need to be held accountable,” Esculano said.

Our team has asked for an interview with Hendry and for written permission to visit the common areas of Tzadik properties and is awaiting a decision.

You can report an issue to the City of Sioux Falls by calling 605-978-6900.

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