Renters at southwest Atlanta apartment complex fed up with ‘inhumane conditions’

ATLANTA — Renters at the Fairburn and Gordon apartment complex in Southwest Atlanta say they are fed up.

“This ain’t no project baby, this ain’t even ghetto this is gutter, sewage gutter,” Deborah Love told Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln.

They attended a status hearing Thursday about the slow progress landlords say they’re making. Last month, the city of Atlanta ordered the landlord to make fixes addressing more than 300 code enforcement violations. Landlords were supposed to have adequate pest control, trash service, security, landscaping and working AC in all units before the 30-day deadline.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has halted all funding because of these violations.

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“I agree with what the city is doing, because even if they’re able to keep these apartments, what they’re doing is trying to make it better for the people,” renter Sylvania Cooper told Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln.

Several renters told Lincoln they are still without air conditioning.

“How they was getting away with it, is what we want to know,” Crystal Brown said.

The solicitor’s office says while there’s been progress, the majority of the progress has been in vacant units and not the occupied units.

Judge Christopher Portis ordered the landlord to pay a $35,000 fine before close of business tomorrow. If that deadline isn’t met the judge could decide to have the property demolished.

“We cannot allow this in this city, we cannot stand for this in this city” Nathaniel Smith founder of Partnership for Southern Equity.

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Partnership for Southern Equity has been working with renters to advocate for better living conditions.

“I think it’s a shame that we’ve allowed residents to exist in this space and live in these spaces that would have been inhumane conditions,” Sterling Johnson said.

Channel 2 Action News learned the landlords live in California. Their attorney representing them declined to comment.

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