Clock ticks on Northeast Side apartment evictions, as tenants to meet with Council

Bill Bush, Columbus Dispatch

As the clock ticks down to a potential mid-summer eviction of a Northeast Side apartment complex by a new management company, a group of tenants says that Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin has invited them to meet with him Monday evening following the council meeting.

But it remains unclear what the city could do to help the roughly 100 residents in dozens of units at the Sandridge Apartment Complex, just north of Champions Golf Course. They received notices in early April that they had 60 days to pack up and move — forcing them into one of the most tight and challenging housing markets in decades, but that has since been extended by 30 more days.

Residents, some of whom have lived there more than a decade, have said they don't know where they can go. Many are paying rents that were set years ago, and haven't been increased since.

Asked if there had been any developments since The Dispatch last wrote about their predicament a couple weeks ago, resident Al Drink, 76, responded: "Nothing, nothing. they've made no offer. Supposedly a group of the tenants went over and were offered to stay at $1,025 a month" with no repairs, but Drink and others haven't received such an offer.

Even though many of them have lived there for years, the tenants in the first four buildings of the Sandridge Apartments (lower left) are being told to move. Although they look the same, the rest of the apartment complex is called Townhomes at Easton Park. The complex is on Westerville Road just south of Morse Road.
Even though many of them have lived there for years, the tenants in the first four buildings of the Sandridge Apartments (lower left) are being told to move. Although they look the same, the rest of the apartment complex is called Townhomes at Easton Park. The complex is on Westerville Road just south of Morse Road.

Related: New Riverview Drive apartment owner booting hundreds of immigrant tenants

"I haven't spoken to the management over there since the tenants brought that back," Drink said Monday afternoon.

Drink, a retired construction worker, pays $525 a month for a two-bedroom unit with a washer and dryer and off-street parking — a rate set over a decade ago by the longtime owner. That owner passed away about two years ago, and the ownership of the complex is still listed by Franklin County in her name, Drink said. However, a new management company said recently the property had changed hands and the sale was about to close, Drink said.

"They still haven't cleaned the property," Drink said, referring to outdoor litter. "... I think that's intentional."

The group is also trying to determine if they will get back security deposits, some of which date back many years, Drink said.

"They said they didn't know anything about security deposits," which were typically equal to a month's rent, Drink said Monday.

The new management firm, Carlton Equities LLC of Lakewood, New Jersey, didn't answer their telephone Monday afternoon.

Hardin's office confirmed that it intended to meet with the tenants after the City Council meeting.

wbush@gannett.com

@ReporterBush

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: City apartment tenants to meet council president Hardin over evictions

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