Update (Dec. 9 at 8 p.m.): Balfour declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

A local lawyer has filed a pending class action lawsuit against BBCS-Hawkeye LLC, alleging Aspire at West Campus leases contain illegal provisions.

Balfour Beatty Communities, LLC serves as a property manager and agent for the landlord BBCS – Hawkeye Housing LLC, 158 Hawkeye Court.

Christopher Warnock, whose law offices host the Iowa Tenants Project, filed the case on behalf of client Elizabeth Reetz on Oct. 7.

“At this point, it’s still pretty early in the case,” Warnock said.

The provisions in question shift blame to tenants and away from landlords, Warnock contended, even if the landlord is negligent. Warnock said similar provisions in other landlords’ leases have already been found illegal in district courts and violated the Iowa Landlord and Tenant Law.

The Iowa Tenants Project has previously filed class actions lawsuits against Apts Downtown Inc. and Tracy Barkalow, who operated Big Ten Property Management LLC, and TSB Holdings, LLC.

Reetz is no longer a tenant at Aspire. For this reason, Warnock said, current tenants are invited to act as representative plaintiffs in the case.

Warnock differentiated the class action from the advocacy organization Graduate Students Against Gentrification. The group is petitioning against rising rental costs at Aspire.

“We’re really focused on getting the leases cleaned up here,” he said.

Balfour Beatty Communities representatives could not be reached at the time of publication.

— by Cindy Garcia