Elderly Clearwater couple unable to leave condo after elevator breaks: 'We can't do anything'

CLEARWATER, Fla. - An elderly couple says they can’t get out of their Clearwater condo for doctors’ appointments because a broken elevator.

Evelyn Mense, 86, and her husband live on the top floor of her condo building at the Villas at Countryside. 

When she first saw the note on the broken elevator two weeks ago, she assumed it would get fixed within a couple of weeks. 

File: An elderly couple is trapped in their condo since the elevator is out of service.

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But when she called building management, who she identified as Frankly Coastal Property Management, they told her it wouldn’t get fixed for about 20 weeks. 

"We can’t do anything: Doctors or dentists or anything. Everything has to be canceled," Mense said. 

FOX 13 counted roughly 20 units on the second and third floors of the condo building that could be impacted by the broken elevator. 

File: The elevator will be out of service for about 20 weeks according to the Villas at Countryside.

Mense said she was told a reason for the delay is due to a missing part that’s needed to fix the elevator. 

"If it was a matter of a couple of weeks, it’d be different," Mense said. "But 20 weeks is too long."

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Her condo building does have stairs. But, her husband is 94 years old. It’s nearly impossible, she says, for the two of them to get up and down. 

"There are people on this floor that have oxygen like I have and that are on walkers. And they can’t get anywhere," Mense said. 

We called Frankly Coastal Property Management and asked if the company manages the Villas at Countryside on Enterprise Road in Clearwater. The woman who answered said they have no comment.