Is It True – City Sues Owner Of Five Cincinnati Apartment Complexes Based in Florida

DEBARYLIFE – Cincinnati officials sent a news release announcing that the City of Cincinnati has launched a lawsuit against REM Capital, a Florida-based business that owns five distinct apartment buildings in Cincinnati.

The corporation is accused in the case of maintaining “substandard living conditions” in its complexes. In Cincinnati neighborhoods including Bond Hill, Pleasant Ridge, Mt. Airy, and West Price Hill, such complexes contain about 850 housing units.

The city especially mentioned the Roselawn-based Heirlooms Apartments as the subject of numerous complaints from locals. Residents of the complex have reported issues with raw sewage leaks, cockroach and rat infestations, and low heat and hot water, according to city officials.

“As an administration, we have been very clear: If you are entering the city, purchasing properties, and then abandoning them, you will be held responsible,” Mayor Aftab Pureval stated in a press statement. “We have been hard at work through policy, investments, and litigation to ensure residents have access to safe, quality, affordable homes — and this lawsuit is a continuation of our aggressive work to protect and support tenants throughout Cincinnati.”

To improve living circumstances for heirloom inhabitants, the complaint asks the court to impose orders on REM Capital to maintain its properties and choose a receiver.

“In a press release, City Manager Sheryl Long praised City Solicitor Emily Smart Woerner and her team for their thorough efforts in addressing problematic properties in the City of Cincinnati.” “Everyone deserves a safe, clean place to live. Our solicitor’s office is tireless in its work to see that promise fulfilled for all Cincinnatians.”

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The case is one of several the city has filed against property owners and landlords in recent years, targeting housing units throughout the city where reports of unsafe living conditions and mistreatment have surfaced.

As of right now, the city has legal action against the Williamsburg Apartments, H&E Enterprises/Avi Ohad, and Vinebrook Homes.

The city filed a lawsuit against Texas-based VineBrook in January 2023, claiming the company had broken a 2021 court settlement that obliged them to address issues at almost 900 public properties and cease its eviction procedures.

The property company, which is the biggest of numerous institutional investors buying Cincinnati single-family homes, also owns about 2,300 additional properties in the Tri-State area.

The city attorneys said that renters had not only complained of mildew, insect infestations, and water leaks, but also unsafe wiring, malfunctioning plumbing, and gas. As a result, H&E Enterprises and Avi Ohad were sued.

Ohad entered a plea of not guilty in January 2023 to the charge of neglecting to supply heat to tenants at a West Price Hill residence one year prior. The criminal judge then handed Ohad a suspended sentence of 180 days in jail, a fine, and probation.

On January 10, 2023, weeks after ruptured pipes flooded dozens of units around Christmastime, the city sued Williamsburg Apartments and Town Homes in Hartwell.

The lawsuit detailed extensive instances of neglected maintenance on the 976 units, such as water leaks, ceiling collapses, sewage backups, broken toilets or no hot water, mold growth, electrical risks, and infestations by rodents and insects.