TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa officially has a new landlord.
After winning a $930 million judgment against Vesta Realty’s Marc Kulick, a company called YSA Investments says it can legally begin taking over assets.
Representatives from YSA Investments recently arrived in Tulsa. 2 News Oklahoma was the only news outlet there as they began locking Kulick out of 11 apartment complexes across the Tulsa metro.
After years of dealing with declining conditions, including a green pool and bats in the walls, a tenant of Barcelona Apartments, Twila Stone, is skeptical of the new, out-of-state ownership.
“If I see some action, I’ll get happy,” she said. “But we have been told so much crap, I’m not going to hold my breath.”
WATCH: VESTA LATEST: YSA Investments takes over 11 Vesta apartment complexes
YSA says getting tenants the living conditions they deserve is the goal. The company is teaming up with local property management group, Capital Assets, for help.
“We need a little bit of patience, because it’s a big job,” said Greg Wright, President of Capital Assets. “Our goal is to get that done quickly so they can have a place to call home and be proud of it.”
Parker Detweiler, a consultant for YSA, says he plans to be in Tulsa during the restoration process.
“I’ll be here Monday through Friday, on site. If you see me, come say hi; I’m not hiding from anybody,” he said.
2 News reported YSA is owned by a convicted arms dealer, Efraim Diveroli. Detweiler says that should not be a focus of concern.
“If every one of us had to live with what we did 20 years ago, for the rest of our lives, good luck,” he said.
YSA also wanted to be able to ask Vesta employees if they wanted to come work for them and keep their jobs. However, they were told that Kulick ordered the staff to leave the properties once he got word that YSA was in town.
YSA encourages staff members to contact Capital Assets.
As Twila Stone said, what change takes place is yet to be seen. But when Detweiler heard her talking about the bat problem, he wanted to restore hope.
He offered to immediately get them removed.
“Hell yes! It’s about time,” she said.
After getting the apartments up to par, YSA plans to sell to a long-term, local owner.
Kulick has not been returning our calls for comment.
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