COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Friday deadline to avoid a lawsuit came and went and now the city of Columbus is taking legal action against the management of a troubled apartment complex on the city’s east side.
City Attorney Zach Klein’s office gave the Colonial Village management company, Capstone Real Estate Services, and the lender a Nov. 10 deadline for a plan to address the issues at the apartment complex. Klein’s spokesperson said that the deadline wasn’t met and now the city is filing two lawsuits: one in common pleas and the other in environmental courts.
One resident gave 10TV a look at the conditions she’s been faced with since she moved to Colonial Village apartments in 2021.
She showed that her bathtub leaked anytime she ran a bath, which then leaked into the unit below her. She must cover the peeling and cracked linoleum in the bathroom with a bathmat. There’s also a gaping hole in the living room carpet below what appears to be water damage or mold on the ceiling.
A woman in one portion of the complex has taken it upon herself to help the large Haitian population that now lives in the buildings. She expressed her frustration with the living conditions at the property that some are subjected to.
“It's like... God.. it's very frustrating. Sometimes I go home and I scream. If it weren't for my German Shepherd, I wouldn't come outside,” said LaToya Bonner.
She said many of the Haitian families were put into the condemned properties and then charged a high price for rent by someone.
“When they say they're paying the rent at $1,200? $1,200? No, never that. Now that I know they don't have light and gas. I don't know what agreement they had with whoever they made it with,” she said.
Bonner hopes the new management company will make the much-needed changes at the complex.
Capstone recently took over the management of the property at the end of October. The prior management company, Hayes Gibson Property Services, has been banned from the property by the city of Columbus. This was after more than 800 people were found living in “substandard” conditions.