CINCINNATI — After years of enduring what they call unlivable conditions, Williamsburg Apartments tenants are celebrating a victory. A court hearing Wednesday established new management at the complex in Hartwell.
It comes after lawsuits were filed against the 976-unit community following multiple complaints and hundreds of building and health department violations including reports of flooding, lack of heat and rodent infestations.
One of those lawsuits is a public nuisance case filed by the city in January and the other is a foreclosure case filed by the owner's mortgage lender Fannie Mae last month.
According to the foreclosure case, Fannie Mae found several examples where the owner defaulted on the lease agreement. One instance dates back to an inspection in September 2022 "whereby certain deficiencies were noted and identified." Those deficiencies included a significant amount of deferred maintenance.
"Among the items posing safety risks were trip hazards, missing or damaged stairway handrails, inoperable security gates, a damaged pedestrian bridge, rusted and rotted balconies, damaged support posts, and a mixture of aluminum and copper wiring. Additionally, vines were growing on buildings, all building cladding was stained with significant damage to wood trim, the gutters and downspouts were clogged and damaged throughout, the three swimming pools were inoperative, and the pool houses were down.
"Many more items of disrepair were detailed. Of the 75 units surveyed, 11 were unleasable due to past or current plumbing leaks and/or fire or water damage, and they contained suspect mold and significant damage," the lawsuit reads.
When WCPO spoke with Ed Cunningham, deputy director of Cincinnati's Department of Buildings and Inspections, in January he said said there were 70 cases involving Williamsburg, with 230 active violations and four orders to vacate.
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Rhonda Berry-Dear, who serves as president of the Williamsburg of Cincinnati Resident's Association, said she checked that number recently and it's only slightly improved.
"The violations speak words, they speak volumes. There's still over a hundred open violations the last time I checked. That's ridiculous," she said.
While she no longer lives at Williamsburg Apartment after being given a notice to vacate, Berry-Dear first spoke with WCPO at a January Williamsburg of Cincinnati Resident's Association meeting where she described constant smells of sewage in her apartment.
"For us, it's been, I want to say heartbreaking still," said Rhonda Berry-Dear. "We are grateful for the Legal Aid department agreeing to take on our resident's association. I am glad and enthusiastic that I was able to get the few council members that I did out to the property to see the devastation that my community is still living in, so it's very important for us to continue. we're not going to stop and get quiet."
She joined about a dozen other current and former tenants at the Hamilton County Courthouse for Wednesday's hearing, including 18-year resident Robert Dye.
"It's been an up-and-down experience. At first, we had a lot of amenities and once that changed, a lot of other things changed, and not for the better," Dye said.
He and Berry-Dear have long been searching for a solution and it only took five minutes for Hamilton County Judge Tom Heekin to grant it.
Before the hearing, all involved parties — including the City of Cincinnati, Legal Aid of Southwest Ohio representing Williamsburg of Cincinnati Resident's Association, the property owner and Fannie Mae — agreed to employ Columbus-based commercial real estate company Newmark and bring in a court-appointed receiver, or a temporary property manager. With all on board, Heekin approved the selection.
Effective immediately, the owner will lose control of the complex and the receiver will take over.
According to the courts, his role will include collecting rents, overseeing repairs and getting the complex back to "livable conditions."
"I think the owners saw the writing on the wall and saw that the judge was going to appoint a receiver either way, said Nick DiNardo, managing attorney at Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio. "This is a great result for the tenants who will now have professional property management. They haven't had that for at least five years."
In addition to appointing the receiver, Heekin approved the consolidation of all current lawsuits against Williamsburg Apartments.
Earlier this year, the resident's association also filed a lawsuit against the complex but quickly moved to intervene in the city's public nuisance suit, and became a represented party in that case.
