Tenants in Albany apartments face eviction

ALBANY – A group of Albany residents could face eviction at an apartment complex where some are asserting that the buildings have been neglected and a previous owner had been collecting rent through last month.

On Wednesday, tenants said, a letter titled “Eviction Notice – 3 Day Demand” was placed on every door in the apartment complex.

That action came not long after Albany City Commissioner Diana Brown posted a Facebook Live video to her account, the commissioner said. Brown had been notified about residents’ concerns earlier in the week.

Residents who spoke to The Albany Herald, who did not wish to have their names used, said that there are safety and hygiene issues at the 609 Moultrie Road apartment complex.

The apartments were built in the early 1970s.

Issues raised by the residents include potential mold in an apartment in which water previously leaked, squirrels that can be heard running through the attic, lack of washer and dryer hook-ups, insect infestations including mosquitoes, flooring coming up, grass not being cut in a timely manner and potentially unsafe aging electrical infrastructure. Some units had issues with air-conditioning that were not quickly addressed, residents said.

One of the tenants said that in December the heat was out for several days, during which repairs were delayed after denying that she had put in a work order, and her broken bedroom door has not been replaced, affecting privacy. There are also holes in the apartment walls from a prior incident in which a maintenance worker searched for the source of insects inside the apartment. Some units have window air-conditioners meant to cool an entire apartment.

The appearance of the eviction notices in the wake of her video post gives the appearance of retaliation, Brown said.

Some of the tenants said they paid the former owner for May rent, and some said they were confused as to whom they should give their money – the former owner or a new company, as the former owner was collecting rent as late as May.

The $1,803.98 requested in the notices, one of which was texted to The Albany Herald by a tenant, includes costs of $800 in rent for both May and June, a total of $160 in late fees, an insurance fee of $11.99 for each month and a $20 fee for the posting of the notices.

The letter states that no partial payments will be accepted.

Some of the residents who did not pay in May were withholding payment due to the conditions in their apartments, residents said. 

The monthly insurance fees had not been charged in the past and are not in their leases, they said. They estimated that about 15 of the units in the three buildings are occupied, with some of them housing elderly residents, a woman who is disabled and some housing families with children. 

City officials have recommended to tenants that they contact the Dougherty County Magistrate Court as potential retaliation. Although Dougherty County no longer has a legal aid office, efforts were being made to contact a legal aid office in another city to determine if assistance is available for tenants.