Activists and tenants joined Wednesday outside the Atlanta offices of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to call on the agency to take action at two Georgia apartment complexes.
The small group of activists and tenants made sure their voices were heard as they protested against what they said are ongoing fair housing violations at GE Tower in Atlanta and Hudson Malone Towers in Albany, along with the unmet housing needs of former residents of the infamous Forest Cove complex in Atlanta.
GE Tower is an apartment complex in the Mechanicsville neighborhood undergoing renovations. But the work has been badly done with residents forced to relocate or live in substandard conditions, according to some tenants. Housing Justice League said people returned to their apartments to find property damaged or stolen.
The complex’s owner, Lincoln Avenue Capital, received about $30 million in funding from MARTA, Invest Atlanta and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to make the renovations, according to the Housing Justice League. In a May-June newsletter, it said tenants are calling for the agencies to withdraw funding.
“The common thread among these issues is the dysfunction at HUD, which has failed to provide the necessary oversight and support,” Housing Justice League said in a statement.
Lincoln Avenue Capital did not immediately comment on the tenants’ claims. Atlanta HUD spokeswoman Shannon Watkins said the agency is aware of the concerns and had met with organizers.
Leslie Ragan, who has lived at GE Tower for 10 years, said people in the complex had to contend with junk fees and poor security as well as rent increases. Some residents don’t have leases, she said, leaving them vulnerable to eviction.
“It’s being poorly managed,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This is a multi-dwelling situation where you have hundreds of families that are just not being dealt with fairly.”
Hudson Malone Towers is a senior living facility. Matthew Nursey, an organizer with the Housing Justice League, said there are problems with rats, mold and faulty elevators at the complex. He demanded HUD take action.
“We want them to address the issues at Hudson Malone today,” Nursey said of the public housing complex, his voice rattling through a loudspeaker. “Take care of the rats … Fix the damn elevators. Get this place ADA (The Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant. Get rid of the mold. Give these people dignity.”
Diana Brown is a homecare worker advocating for the residents at Hudson Malone Towers, and made the three-hour drive from Albany to attend the event. She said tenants were facing issues with plumbing, and raw sewage leaking into their homes. She clutched documents she planned to show HUD officials. Among them were color photocopy images of apartments showing leaks, mildew, mold and drywall hanging off a ceiling.
“I care about tenants,” she said during her turn at the microphone “They have the right to speak about their living conditions with no form of retaliation, and that’s all they’ve being getting.”
Albany Housing Authority did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Watkins, the HUD spokeswoman, confirmed a “representative for the tenants” at Hudson Malone Towers and a “representative for the Housing Justice League” had a private meeting with the agency after the protest. Southeast Deputy Regional Administrator Tiffany Cobb, and Field Office Director Shea Johnson met with them, she said.
“Further, we are in close contact with the local housing authority and owners of the impacted properties to ensure their residents’ concerns are being addressed. HUD will continue monitoring the conditions at each of the impacted properties to ensure that all issues are quickly and effectively addressed,” she wrote.
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