POULSBO — The Woodcreek Apartments at 2188 NE Hostmark St. in Poulsbo are going to look very different come summer 2016.

With the sale of the property finalized in early September, the new owners will be upgrading, renovating and adding carports, dishwashers, in-unit washers and dryers, new flooring, a community playground and more.

But that’s not the only thing that will change.

“Tenants will not be allowed to stay in the units and must move out during renovation,” said resident Joseph Price. “In my case, the rent on my unit after all the renovation is completed will increase by 50 percent (from $700 to $1,095 a month). It may go higher, according to management.”

And, perhaps the most significant change of all: “They will no longer accept low-income or voucher tenants, once (renovations are) completed.”

Until recently, the rentals were subsidized for low-income families. After ending that program, the then-owners participated in the Section 8 housing program, which means low-income residents received vouchers enabling them to pay a fraction of the rent, with the Section 8 program making up the rest. But Jeff Miller, chief executive officer of the complex’s new management company, Pacific Living Properties, and speaking on behalf of the owners, said the affordable program the former owners were on had already expired when the new owners took over.

“The affordable program … had already expired, and as the units became available, (the rents) were being raised to market rate,” Miller said. “The new ownership is doing the same thing.”

Price said the majority of residents in the 40-unit complex are low-income and include single mothers and young families.

“I know [in] the case of my next-door neighbor, she’s going to have to move in with a family member, her and her two children and her husband,” Price said.

“Another single mother — she works at Walmart and has two children. I don’t know what her alternative is. Most cases, their incomes are limited and the alternatives are not that (good).”

Though current residents — who are being asked to move out as their leases expire to make way for renovations — are welcome to reapply for the units when they become available again, “(most) couldn’t afford to move back in even if they had to,” Price said.

Price said he recently got a promising job offer, but he’s just one of many of the residents being displaced by these plans.

“I just don’t understand it,” Price said. “It’s too much.”

One resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the on-site manager has avoided residents, ignoring phone calls and keeping the office door locked even though the sign said the office was open.

The resident said the toilet and shower in their unit has needed maintenance for months. The former owners never repaired them, and the family was forced to improvise fixes that kept the toilet and shower mostly functional. Since the new owners took over, the resident said the on-site manager refused to have the toilet and shower repaired because the resident would be moving out by Oct. 1.

“They like to make sure you know that you’re kind of beneath them,” the resident said. “One of my other neighbors was practically in tears, they were making her feel so terrible.”

Price said, “The complex has always been well-maintained over the years. It’s only been about the last four months that little if any maintenance has been done.”

Miller, when asked about these instances, was surprised and said he had not heard about these events. “That’s not how we would ever handle maintenance,” he said. “As far as any maintenance that wasn’t taken care of by the prior ownership, I couldn’t speak to that. We have a number of ways for residents to let us know (about repair needs).”

Miller said there’s an online form, a 24-hour phone line and office hours.

“Our goal is, as management, to try and take care of the residents and community,” Miller said. “It’s always challenging when [an] affordable community becomes a market-rate community, so we’ll do everything that we can to help residents.”

Miller said Pacific Living Properties was looking at other options available to its current residents.

To learn more about housing options for low-income families, visit housingkitsap.org, email housingkitsap@housingkitsap.org or call 360-535-6100 or the toll-free number, 1-800-693-7070.