Renters And Foreclosures

February 13th, 2008 | Tags: Foreclosures

Residents of Homestead Apartments are going through phases of hot and cold shocks. First the news came in that the property on 1805 Military St., Port Huron has been in foreclosure for many months. The management of Millennium real Estate of Mount Clemens gave the assurance that the situation would not go out of control. But last Thursday the residents were informed that SEMCO Energy would allow another month of reprieve. It would only delay and not stop the eviction of the tenants who have been in tenterhooks since the fall of last year. The threat is the cutting off of heat. This will compel the city officials to declare that the unit is not fit for occupation and has to be closed within 48 hours.

The tragedy is that the tenants were kept in the dark till the eleventh hour. Even though the house was foreclosed they continued to pay rent. If so why are the heating bills unpaid – is the strong query put forward by renter April Curtiss. Where has the money gone? She has contacted Detroit office of HUD, the American Red Cross and Lakeshore Legal Aid offices but to no avail. Her seven month old child s suffering from acute respiratory infection that seems to be related to the poor heating and plumbing leaks. The thermostat is turned off at night.

The assistant to the manager of the property Stacy Tryloff said that she would take the rent through the end of the month although the management firm Millennium has quit the job of managing the unit from the previous month! The manager Hans Stahl says that he stopped paying gas bills from December because rental income had fallen and the owner was not available for comments. He does not remember how far back he had contacted the owners who live in the Caribbean. Stahl defends his action that he had always given priority to gas bills but surely he cannot pay out of his pocket. He says there are four tenants but the renters say that there are seven of them. Stahl further adds that only two tenants are current in their payments. Curtiss counter argues that it is the responsibility of Stahl to pay the gas bill – even if it is for one tenant; otherwise it will be a breach of contract. One tenant cannot be responsible for what the others are doing.