Ohio-based mega-landlord Millennia Housing Management’s downward spiral appeared to accelerate last week when federal agents executed a search warrant at the suburban Cleveland home of CEO Frank Sinito, local media reported.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have not yet revealed what their agents seized or discovered at Sinito’s 14,000-square-foot mansion. Both agencies finance affordable housing projects.
No arrests or charges have been filed — but housing advocates and former Millennia tenants nationally are hailing the raid as a promising step toward holding the corporate landlord accountable for its predatory actions.
“Frank Sinito didn’t care about us,” said Yolanda Tamplin, who lived at Millennia’s now demolished Forest Cove Apartments, an infamously dangerous Section 8 complex in Atlanta. “We were living like trash. I hope he gets everything taken from him. Every dime.”
“I hope he has to start from the bottom like we did,” Tamplin continued in a statement provided by the National Housing Law Project. “I hope they take him for everything he got.”
Affordable housing advocates say that the feds’ visit to Sinito’s home has been a long time coming.
“Our campaign and the thousands of Millennia tenants we represent warned HUD for years about Millennia’s unlawful and discriminatory practices that forced tenants to live in inhumane conditions and even die,” Foluke Nunn, a community organizer for the American Friends Service Committee in Atlanta, said in an emailed statement. “Now, Frank Sinito has to deal with the consequences.”
Reached by email last week, HUD officials deferred a request for comment to the agency’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which did not respond to emails.
HUD’s OIG has for months declined to tell Atlanta Civic Circle whether it had launched a formal investigation into Millennia’s practices, but the raid on Sinito’s house indicates the landlord is likely now under the federal microscope.
HUD in March barred Millennia from doing any further business with the federal government, cutting off the company’s access to new Section 8 rental-voucher contracts for its low-income apartment properties nationally. Millennia “exercised financial mismanagement of tenant security deposit accounts and taxpayer funds providing housing assistance,” the agency said at the time.
Millennia owns tens of thousands of rental units nationwide — many of them subsidized by HUD to provide affordable housing for low-income renters. Atlanta’s Forest Cove offered a glaring snapshot of the unlivable conditions the company provided for its Section 8 tenants. The Thomasville Heights complex was finally condemned by the city of Atlanta for numerous code violations, after tenants lived there for years plagued by rodents, roaches, mold, violent crime, and countless other health and safety hazards.
Images of Forest Cove and other Millennia properties across the country stand in stark contrast to views of the colossal, manicured estate inhabited by Sinito — a juxtaposition that reflects the almost incomprehensible quality-of-life gap between low-income renters and the landlords that collect rent checks from them and the federal government. (Also, at some 14,000-square-feet, the CEO’s home is about 12 times the size of one of the larger units at Forest Cove.)
Courtney English, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ top policy advisor, applauded the Biden-Harris administration for cracking down on Millennia’s mistreatment of low-income renters and mismanagement of government funds.The city “hope[s] that these actions send a chill down the spine of any property manager who refuses to do right by their tenants,” he said in a statement.
Two years ago, the city of Atlanta initiated a massive resident-relocation effort at Forest Cove, after a municipal judge condemned the property and ordered its demolition. The initiative scattered roughly 200 low-income families around metro Atlanta — to wherever city officials could find the increasingly elusive apartment complexes where landlords were willing to accept government-backed rent vouchers.
Millennia announced in April that it would be exiting the Section 8 housing business and selling the majority of its HUD-subsidized apartment complexes — but tenants hope the agency doesn’t allow the company’s massive portfolio to fall into the hands of another negligent landlord.
Renters remember that Millennia only acquired its vast collection of low-income rental properties because HUD forced another mega-landlord, Global Ministries Foundation, to sell after years of neglected maintenance and financial mismanagement.
“I pray that HUD can find a new owner who promises to work with Millennia tenants, buys the other properties, and repairs them, so nobody will be homeless and have to go through what we went through,” said Tamplin, the former Forest Cove resident.
HUD has allowed mega-landlords like Millennia to operate without adequate oversight for decades, said Nunn, the housing advocate. She called on HUD to go beyond the individual crackdown on Millennia and reform its oversight standards and practices for all Section 8 contract awardees.
“Millennia is just part of a system that lets corporate landlords take HUD’s money and leave tenants’ homes to rot,” she said. “If corporate landlords are in business with the government, the government shouldn’t let them profit with no strings attached. We need our government to correct the power imbalance between landlords and tenants.”
“This is an opportunity for HUD to honor Millennia tenants’ demands for protection from bad owners like Frank Sinito, and to overhaul its oversight of project-based rental assistance owners,” Nunn added.
I understand this , I live in Summit Towers , Knoxville,TN . We live with roaches, mice, bed bugs, and leaks all over the building. We have been told we are getting new management..We are waiting to see.And I hope this guy gets everything he gave to us .
The CEO of millennial is not the only criminal involved. He will not be brought to justice by the government. The filthy rich do not fear the law because they were above the law. Courts will not bring these criminals to justice. They will never suffer the consequences of their criminal behavior unless the people deliver the consequences.
It is the Mayor Fault tik tok I want to Decreased My Rental Fee. No say the Mayor the Housing Authority is Run by Boards. # Churches .Yeah . Your Christian Community. See if you Struggle You Ss Swim back and Try Again
Never Enough Money. Who Control the Narative. Controlls the Dollars. Church Community Services. # Keep the Secret to Ownership. Slaves Owners Through Churches. Not New Under the Sun. Globally ??? Free Trade
Corporations and churches are above the law. They are very much the same. They don’t pay taxes and it is rare on one of them gets arrested, convicted and goes to prison. America is evil and Obamas minister pointed that out when he said “God damn America. God Damn America”.
This is an example of corporatism proves that the corporate criminal elite above the law. This is more than one criminal CEO breaking the law and not going to prison. This is what happens in kleptocracies and oligarchies.
In 1789 the French knew what to do when it came to the criminal elite and the ruling class. The French terrorized the filthy rich and brought them to the guillotine. Because corporate gangsters are above the law in America they never go to prison where they belong.
As a tenet of a Millennia Housing Management I can see why the tenets all over the vast ownings of them complain They expect the tenets do pay rent and they get a good amount of those rents from the Government (Hud) mostly. If you are a honest Landlord you should do your part. I realize that they are Large, but they have many district management people to do the job of making sure there properties are taking care of Sometimes TOO BIG IS TOO BIG !!!!!!!!! I don’t think a CEO can oversee this many properties and be affected But he can connect with the area Managers and be sure they are doing their jobs
I live in glenwood apartments in ohio and it’s owned by millenia and nothing gets fixed. Multiple people have damage and no one cares at all and nothing is done about it. And its only getting worse by the day. No one gives one single shit about anyone here. It’s disgusting behavior.
I live in Hershey Plaza, Pennsylvania. I LOOOVE my home. I have lived here for many years. I am truly blessed to have a safe home. I know the building needs new management. The place was always kept clean. in the last few years, the wrong calibre of people have moved in. They have brought Bed Bugs, Roaches and Mice in. It’s been a living nightmare.
Under the older owners, (PENN ROSE) That man was phenomenal. He provided a Van for the plaza residents. He would give soooo many blessings and gifts for the residents. The place was constantly maintained. There was a time when the BUG people..would make monthly rounds..and spray. We NEVER had any problems. Under the other older management “Michelle” was her name. She was kind and compassionate. Tough on keeping the place clean. I miss her.
Truth is. I haven’t had my place sprayed since the new owners took over. I’m lucky. I might be poor. However, My family? Isn’t. So…I take care of any and all bug problems. I spray it myself. I suffer from mental health struggles. So. I am obsessive about keeping my home clean and pest free. The old management…would have the place sprayed….monthly ..to every 2 months. Whether we needed it or not. It just…was done. The perimeter….of all the kitchen…would be sprayed. (Yes i have a dog). You just kept your dog in the bedroom. Till it dried..and they were done. Now a days. The manager Pam. Force the residents to pay for their own pest control. No one fights her. I have seen many evictions due to her. she is mean. (I recall a time, when the pest control was done as routine as brushing your teeth. And no one was forced to pay for it out of their own pockets).
She forces the residents to pay for Pest Control.for the building. The owner, I doubt knows all this.
I heard he is/was a Christian , The truth is, He needs to scale way down, And get some true eyes..on his management team. And doing the right thing.
We all need to work together to create a safe and clean home. The TENANTS and the MANAGEMENT, And the OWNER. It takes a village to keep it all going and maintained.
Well..i said my peace.
I sure hope, the Owner and Management and representatives of many tenants will sit down…and find a solution to the mess.
Have a wonderful day .
Yall, this is happening in Kansas City, MO too https://fox4kc.com/news/kc-tenants-fed-up-with-with-property-maintenance-and-safety-concerns/