COLUMBUS, Ohio — Graham Bowman from Legal Aid Society of Columbus is representing residents displaced from Latitude Five25.
"I've never seen anything of this scale,” he said.
On Tuesday evening the city attorney's office and the soon-to-be former owners reached a deal to make repairs and sell the property.
Part of the deal includes waiving January rent and allowing tenants to break their leases. Bowman says many need more help than that.
"What we're seeking is compensation for the damages people have been suffering as a result of all these failures throughout the year, and also compensation for the suffering they're going through now,” he said.
Members of Paxe Latitude, who currently own the apartments, were in court Tuesday but declined our request for an interview.
“They have proven themselves not to be good actors,” said Columbus city attorney Zach Klein. “They don't care about the residents they certainly don't care about the city or where these residents reside.”
Klein said due to the conditions set in the deal, he's cautiously optimistic about the future of the towers when a new buyer takes over.
“That's where the continuing court case plays such an important role,” he said. “They don't get to come in and have a free pass. They know the problems, they have to address and that is going to be our role from the city attorney's office moving forward to make sure we keep applying the pressure for the residents that are going to eventually live there.”
Legal aid is focused now on outreach efforts to help anyone displaced at Latitude Five25.