On Tuesday, over 860 residents at the Colonial Village apartments on Columbus’ East Side were told by management they would have to move out by Dec. 31.
On letters posted on apartment doors, Capstone Real Estate Services, the current management company, cited the need “of extensive renovations that cannot be completed while anyone is occupying a unit at the apartment complex.”
“You will need to move out of your apartment on or before December 31, 2023, in order to avoid legal proceedings by Capstone to obtain possession of the premises,” the letters said.
The move left many residents anxious about where to go next, what do to do with their belongings and how this will impact their jobs and their children’s schooling. The city has said it will provide temporary housing for the residents, prioritizing those who lack heat.
The case echoes the crisis at the Latitude Five25 apartments last year — but with far more people involved, and with the added complication that many residents are not fluent in English.
The complex has a total of 508 units. According to the city’s Department of Building and Zoning Services and the City Attorney’s office, about 239 units have valid leases, but there are about 128 units where people were living without valid leases. Those people include around 850 Haitian immigrants whom a network of traffickers brought to the complex. In some cases, the traffickers’ network took boards off doors and windows of units in order to rent out the apartments to Haitian families, according to court filings by the city attorney’s office. The group provided the Haitian tenants fake leases and collected rent – sometimes for over $1,200 monthly for a two-bedroom apartment, according to residents.
All of the units at Colonial Village — including those with valid leases — have been told they must vacate the premises by the end of the year, according to Hannah Jones, the Department of Development’s deputy director for community development.
At a meeting at the Barnett Center on Tuesday night, the city’s Department of Development told residents that if their units lack heat, they will be eligible for temporary housing assistance from the city until the end of March next year. Temporary housing is being coordinated at hotels and motels by the Community Shelter Board.
The city will provide the assistance of a rehousing specialist to assist residents of apartments that do have heat,, and may also be eligible for temporary housing assistance − though priority will be given to those who lack heat, according to Jones.
“We want to ensure that we can offer folks a safe warm place to stay through the winter,” said Jones.
After years of code violations for issues ranging from bed bugs to rodents, water and fire damage, broken windows, and unsecured vacant units, Colonial Village was put under court-appointed receivership in early 2022. Columbus developer Robert J. Weiler Sr. served as receiver until April, when Kenneth Latz, Senior Managing Director of Riveron ETS LLC, took over.
Texas-based Capstone took over managing the complex after the previous property manager, Hayes Gibson Property Services, was terminated and banned from the property in October, after the rental scam involving Haitians was discovered.
A previous version of this article misstated that residents who have heat will not be eligible for temporary housing assistance. In fact, all residents are eligible for temporary housing assistance, but priority will be given to those who lack heat.
Check back for updates − this article will be updated.
Peter Gill covers immigration, New American communities and religion for the Dispatch in partnership with Report for America. You can support work like his with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America at:bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.
pgill@dispatch.com
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