Three years ago, the city of Atlanta evacuated around 200 low-income families from the notorious Forest Cove Apartments, which had been condemned in 2021, and rehoused them across the metro area.
The city bulldozed the dangerous and dilapidated complex soon after. Even so, many of the relocated tenants are still hoping to hold their former landlord, Millennia Housing Management, legally accountable for harms caused by years of negligent maintenance at the Section 8 complex.
In October 2023, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens hosted a press conference with prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, declaring that they would file a class action lawsuit against the Ohio-based mega-landlord. The aim was to obtain compensation for the hundreds of tenants who lived for years with mold, mildew, pests, and other safety hazards at the southside apartment development.
Almost two years later, the class action still hasn’t materialized. But Crump on Wednesday assured a few dozen former Forest Cove tenants gathered at the Thomasville Recreation Center, next door to their former home, that a whopper of a case was on the horizon — and he needed their help to build it.
But why the delay? Crump said he’s been monitoring numerous individual personal injury lawsuits that former tenants have brought against Millennia in different states — and most have failed. The former tenants have repeatedly alleged in court that they’ve been harmed by the mega-landlord’s negligence: Unmitigated mold and mildew have made them sick; rat bites have caused injuries; and structural issues have led to slips and falls.
Even so, judges in Arkansas, Mississippi, and other states have dismissed their personal injury claims, Crump said, so he’s taking a different approach with the class action. Instead of bodily harm, he’s focusing on breach of contract and fraud claims.
“What we do think we have good grounds on is breach of contract, unjust enrichment, respondent superior, and fraudulent misrepresentation,” he said. “We know [Millennia was] in breach of contract for everybody who lived in the Forest Cove Apartments. Those are things we feel confident that a judge should not summarily dismiss.”
In plain English: Millennia contracted to provide livable housing at Forest Cove with both residents and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which subsidizes the Section 8 properties via rent vouchers. Millennia has blatantly broken that promise, Crump said.
Millennia did not respond to a written request for comment.
If Crump’s legal team can prove in court that Millennia violated the terms of its Section 8 contract with HUD and individual tenant leases, it could mean a big payday for the former Forest Cove residents, he said. That would be long-overdue recompense, Crump added, for a group of people whom Millennia treated like “second-class citizens.”
Atlanta plaintiffs lawyer Quinton Washington, who is partnering with Crump for the case, said the Wednesday meeting with the former Forest Cove residents was to sign clients and collect their testimonies.
Washington said the lawyers are asking former tenants to share their experiences at Forest Cove: “What happens when I call to get anything repaired where I live? What happens if there’s a hole in my floor and I fall through it?”
“This is going to be part of us working to lay out a pattern and practice by Millennia and [Forest Cove legal subsidiary] Phoenix Ridge on how the residents were treated in low-income housing in Atlanta,” said Sue-Ann Robinson, an attorney with Crump’s firm.
“Obviously, they have a pattern of treating residents in low-income housing in the same manner — leaving the places in disrepair, not being responsive, understanding that the buildings are not habitable, but still maintaining their certification with HUD.”
RICO prosecution?
Crump also floated the idea of criminally prosecuting Millennia under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). RICO laws were originally intended to prosecute criminal organizations, such as gangs, but their use has broadened over the years.
Building the class action case could reveal criminal patterns and practices by Millennia, Washington said. “If Millennia is getting the same amount of money [in rent] as a good apartment complex, then it could be fraudulent misrepresentation,” he said. “At that point, it’s criminal.”
Crump and Washington did not say what public prosecutor should undertake a RICO case against Millennia. It would be up to a prosecutor with jurisdiction over Forest Cove, which could be federal prosecutors, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, or the Georgia Attorney General.
Courtney English, Mayor Dickens’ top policy advisor, said Millennia’s years of mismanagement warrant “both civil and criminal scrutiny,” adding that RICO charges “sound like a worthwhile endeavor.”
“Considering Millennia’s previous actions, they’ve demonstrated a willingness to ignore the welfare of their residents while taking money from the government,” English said.
Im confused..didnt millennia only own the property for a year? The Church that owned it before seems the most at fault
Millennia bought the property in 2021, but was property manager for about four years before that.
If you are just a property manager and not the owner do you believe they had the ability to dictate where funds went? Or would that decision making still ultimately rest with the Owner as dictated by a management agreement?