Atlanta City Council passes legislation to help renters and fight bad landlords

ATLANTA — The bad weather doesn’t help many renters across the metro. Heavy rains bring leaks, floods and mold. In many cases, the renters said the landlords ignored their requests for help.

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“My floors are breaking upstairs. The leak starts in the bathroom. They say they fixed it, but as you can see, it’s not,” said Shena Carter.

“When it rains, it pours,” Carter said.

And she means it: When it rains, the water outside finds a way inside her apartment in northwest Atlanta.

She’s not the only one. Her neighbors across the street are also dealing with similar conditions.

We’re talking about flooding and mold growing underneath the carpet.

On top of that, there’s no air conditioning in most of the units, but Carter said that’s not even the worse of their conditions.

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The city of Atlanta says there are over 100 apartment complexes that have living conditions like this. Behind me, you can see piles and piles of trash everywhere.

“Unfortunately, this is the reality of many of Atlanta residents,” said Atlanta City Councilwoman Andrea L. Boone.

Boone said that’s why the council approved legislation that requests the Fulton County district attorney investigate ways to criminally charge the landlords and urges the Atlanta Police Department to pursue all complaints against neglectful landlords.

“This legislation is simply about holding people accountable,” said Boone.

Councilwoman Boone also said, “I plan on tackling these apartment complexes, parcel by parcel, until we get some improvement from these landlords. Many of them live out of town, and we’re faced with dealing with attorneys and lawyers.”

Meanwhile, Carter said she’s glad the city is helping them. “They have been more than helpful with explaining details and giving us resources.”

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Carter said she prays something will be done.

“We’re forced to still pay rent here. If we don’t pay rent, we got to go to court,” she said. “If we don’t go to court, we get put out. Either way, we face eviction for something, we’re pretty much not supposed to be living in.”

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