On Tuesday, February 22, Forest Cove residents and allies
were thrilled to learn that Millennia— the long-time manager and new owner of
the 396-unit Section 8 apartment complex—had agreed to cancel their rent payments.
AFSC has been working in partnership with Housing Justice League to help tenants
in Forest Cove organize since 2018. Residents have been waiting for years in
life-threatening conditions for Millennia to purchase and rehabilitate the
property. Millennia finally bought the property in April 2021, and during the
summer of 2021 it began the process of organizing relocation meetings and preparing
residents for their temporary move off-site.
Though Millennia originally estimated that the first
residents would be off-site by the end of the summer, as the months passed this
proved to be a generous (and perhaps disingenuous) prediction. To make matters
worse, Millennia was failing to provide residents with the security and maintenance
services that they needed to remain safe in their units while they waited to be
moved.
In January 2022, the Forest Cove Tenants Association decided
that enough was enough. They delivered a demand letter to the front office
asking for rent to be canceled, the expansion of the maintenance team, better
security, and a written commitment from Millennia affirming residents’ right to
return after the renovation.
Weeks passed with no response, and during that time the
tenants association learned that despite Millennia’s claims that everything was
going smoothly, a City of Atlanta Judge had ruled in December that the property
should be condemned due to the conditions. The Georgia Department of Community
Affairs chose to deny Millennia’s application for low-income housing tax
credits, which would have funded Forest Cove’s renovation and relocation.
Suddenly, the residents were stuck in limbo again. Over the past month, many of
them had begun to view new temporary units, and a few were on the verge of
moving out. But after the condemnation order was issued and the process paused,
Millennia did not notify the residents for days. Residents received nothing but
frustrating silence as they struggled to figure out why the relocation specialists
were no longer answering their calls.
As this all unfolded, Millennia continued to collect rent
from Forest Cove. Shocked and angered by the abrupt halt to the relocation
process, residents began to float the idea of not paying rent on one tenant
association call. The idea gained traction, and on the 22
nd a group
of residents gathered with allies outside of Forest Cove’s front office to
deliver a letter stating that they would no longer pay rent. The front office
staff locked the door, and would not come out to receive the letter. Security
asked the group to retreat to the other side of the property’s fence. After
much of the crowd had dispersed, four Atlanta police officers arrived, called
to the complex by the front office staff. Minutes later, a letter was handed to
one resident from the front office—it was a response from Millennia to the
original demand letter from January, stating that Forest Cove residents would
not have to pay monthly rent until they are relocated.
This is a huge victory. Residents are now able to use this
extra money to care for themselves and their families while they wait to learn
what the future of the complex will be. Their final ask is for Millennia to
reimburse any and all balances that residents have paid since April 2021. We
are still waiting for Millennia to respond to this request.
If you would like to keep up with the Forest Cove tenant
association, please follow @forestcovetenants on Instagram.
For more information about Forest Cove and Millennia, you
can check out these articles:
The last year at Forest Cove: Tenants abandoned and a
renovation out of reach https://www.wabe.org/forestcove/
Living Hell: A failure of government oversight produced a
housing system across the U.S. that hurts people who need it the most https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/Living-Hell-housing-tenants-hud-properties-problem-16000650.php
