ATLANTA — Atlanta’s Mayor Andre Dickens is promising to go after bad property managers, who are not providing tenants with safe and clean living.
He made the announcement on Monday, while addressing the ongoing issues at Forest Cove Apartments.
The city has relocated all of the residents within the complex, so they can rehabilitate the property.
Forest Cove Apartments are in southeast Atlanta, off McDonough Road.
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“It hurts. It hurts, for you to live in a community, that is falling,” said Felicia Morris.
Morris has called Forest Cove Apartments home for roughly 25 years. She said at first, things were nice, but over the years the complex turned into what she calls ‘horrible living conditions.’ “We had rodents. We had rats. We had rats climbing the ceiling. They would jump from the ceiling. It was horrible.”
That’s why the city shut down the complex and relocated everyone who lived there. Dickens, with the support of the Atlanta City Council, invested $9.1 million to support the relocation of Forest Cove residents.
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Since 2018, Channel 2 has reported about the living conditions at Forest Cove.
Monday, Dickens addressed the issues and the plans to fix the situation: “Forest Cove is a worst case scenario and we can’t and will not let this happen again. No family deserves to live in sub standard conditions,” he said.
Dickens said he’s taking that a step forward. He’s going after all bad property managers, within the city, “Bad actors be ware. We are coming to make sure that we don’t have these conditions again.”
Morris said she knows how it feels to live in unsanitary conditions, “It hurts, because I know what they’re going through. It’s a hurting feeling.”
Morris is glad the city is taking the extra measures to not only help her complex, but other communities as well.
The city is paying the upfront costs of the relocation and the Forest Cove owners will repay the full amount to the city.
Meanwhile, if you live in a property that needs help, you’re asked to call the city by dialing 311 and ask for a property inspection.
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