Canton sues owners of Victory Square Apartments for deplorable conditions

CANTON – The city of Canton is suing the owners of Victory Square Apartments for creating a public nuisance by failing to fix the health and safety hazards at the 81-unit complex.

It is asking a Stark County judge to either force the owners to comply or to appoint someone else to take control of the property and make the repairs.

Meanwhile, Victory Square tenants have begun working with housing relocation specialists to find new homes.

Canton City Law Director Jason Reese on Friday filed a lawsuit in Stark County Common Pleas Court that asks a judge to force Green Victory Square of New York and its property management company Arnold-Grounds Apartment Management & Affordable Housing Specialists of Texas to fix the problems at Victory Square or to appoint a receiver to fix the problems if they won’t.

The city also is seeking a judge's order to require them to pay any fines and fees involved with the city’s enforcement of its building codes and other applicable costs. The complex includes three apartment buildings at 1206 Lipper Road NE, 1209 Eighth St. NE and 1223 Eighth St. NE in Canton.

The lawsuit, which has been assigned to Judge Taryn Heath, also names four other entities that likely have an interest in the Victory Square property and could be affected by the court filing: Merchants Bank of Indiana, which has a $2.56 million mortgage assigned to the property; CMS Maintenance Solutions, which has a mechanic’s lien of $6,371 that was recorded on the property in January; the Stark County treasurer for the collection of local property taxes that may be now due and payable; and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which had been paying rent subsidies to Green Victory Square on behalf of low-income and other qualified tenants living there until it ended its housing assistance contract with the owner in January.

A message seeking comment from Green Victory Square’s parent company, Green National, was not returned Friday. Previously, a company representative said it was in active conversations with federal and city officials on both a short- and long-term plan to remedy any deficiencies that exist at Victory Square.

Canton inspectors cite 500+ violations at Victory Square

According to the city’s lawsuit, Green Victory Square and Arnold-Grounds have not corrected all the building code violations that city inspectors have cited at the complex, despite multiple notifications since August of their duty to fix the violations.

In December, inspectors identified more than 500 violations of Canton’s building code, according to paperwork filed with the lawsuit.

The violations, which were found in 80 of the 81 units, cited a range of infractions such as infestations of rodents, leaking sinks, toilets and bathtubs, deteriorating kitchen cabinets, damaged or improperly installed floors, and many missing smoke detectors.

Reese asked the judge to appoint a receiver if the owner and property management company won’t comply. The receiver would be given the authority to take possession and control of the property and take the necessary action, including renovation or demolition, so the property is no longer a nuisance.

Tenants look to move out

The tenants who have been living in the deplorable conditions at Victory Square met with relocation specialists on Tuesday to learn how they can get help with finding and moving into a new home.

HUD, which ended its housing assistance contract and monthly subsidy payments for Victory Square in January, has hired a relocation company to help with the moving process and will pay up to $1,300 to each head of household to help with the expenses of finding and applying for a new home and then moving into it. The agency also will pay the tenant’s security deposit payment and the cost to transfer their current utilities to their new home.

The meeting provided a mix of hope and frustration for the tenants.

They are happy that the relocation process is moving forward but frustrated by its slow pace. They thought they were going to be out of Victory Square by last Christmas. They also believed they would be getting their new tenant protection vouchers from Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority at the meeting, only to find out that there was more paperwork to complete and more waiting.

Tiffany Taylor, who has lived at Victory Square for eight years, said the delay caused her to miss the opportunity to move into a home near her mother in southwest Canton. It already has been rented to another tenant.

Other tenants said they continue to be harassed by the current property managers, who had sought to evict some of them until HUD intervened.

Canton Mayor William V. Sherer II, who attended the relocation meeting with members of the city’s Fair Housing and Building departments, assured the residents the city would provide all the resources it could to help with the transition.

“It’s going to take some time but nobody should have to live like this and be put in conditions like this,” he said. “We’ll do everything we can.”

J.R. Rinaldi, chief of staff for the Canton Building Department, thanked the residents for standing up for themselves and making the department aware of the conditions at the complex.

“We are here today because of you. You guys wouldn’t accept what was happening there,” he said. “… You guys have started a revolution that sets the tone across the city, not just the city but the country. Other cities are taking notice of what happened here, so you guys have paved the way.”

Reach Canton Repository writer Kelli Weir at 330-580-8339 or kelli.weir@cantonrep.com.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton sues owners of Victory Square Apartments for not fixing hazards