At least 70 tenants face eviction at Williamsburg apartments in Hartwell
At least 70 tenants behind on their rent at the Williamsburg of Cincinnati Apartments & Townhomes are now facing eviction after years of enduring what tenants have described as run-down and unlivable conditions.
In January, the city of Cincinnati filed a public nuisance lawsuit against the owner of the 976-unit apartment community, BRC Williamsburg Holdings LLC. That suit followed numerous complaints from tenants and hundreds of building and health department code violations.
The property is now under the control of court-appointed receiver John Rothschild of Columbus-based real estate management company, Newmark.
Rothschild has been charged with collecting rents, overseeing repairs and preparing the property at 200 West Galbraith Road in Hartwell for a possible sale.
In addition to the city's lawsuit, the building's mortgage lender, Fannie Mae, has also filed a foreclosure lawsuit against BRC Williamsburg, which could lead to a public auction of the property.
Owner BRC Williamsburg Holdings LLC still facing lawsuits
Both the city and Fannie Mae's lawsuits have been consolidated and are pending before Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Tom Heekin.
Rothschild, who declined to comment when contacted by The Enquirer, informed Heekin last month that he planned to pursue evictions of about 70 of the most delinquent tenants at Williamsburg, according to court records.
More than 4 in 10 tenants late with their rent
The apartment complex had a 43% delinquency rate and was missing $389,376 in late rent payments in July, according to Rothschild's initial report to the court.
The property taxes alone on the complex valued at about $11 million were just over $349,000, according to the Hamilton County Auditor.
Tenant meeting planned to address mass evictions
Concerned tenants are planning to meet Thursday to discuss their rights and options in the face of the planned mass evictions, according to leaders of the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, an advocacy group organizing the tenants' meeting.
More than 50 Williamsburg apartments considered 'unrentable'
Although some progress has been made to rehabilitate the building and address health and building code violations, the property still has 352 vacant units, 52 of which are considered unrentable, according to the receiver's report.
So far, 51 appliances and 58 heating and air conditioning units have been replaced at the apartment complex, and 113 work orders have been issued for plumbing and bath repairs, according to the receiver's report.
The report, dated Aug. 21, states "the receiver will seek to remedy and repair health and safety deficiencies and dangerous conditions at the property'' as well as "address outstanding city code violations'' over the next several months.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Williamsburg apartments: 70 face eviction at Hartwell complex
