CBS Atlanta 46CBS Atlanta gets action for residents of moldy East Point apartments

Managers at an apartment complex agree to relocate residents from moldy apartments after CBS Atlanta asks tough questions.

A small fire last week in a top-floor unit of the Village Highlands Apartments activated the sprinklers in that unit and the two below it, forcing those residents to evacuate.

Resident Sheena Bennett told CBS Atlanta News that the Red Cross offered her assistance, providing hotel vouchers for a few days. She said property managers promised to clean and dry the apartments while they were gone.

But when she came back, mold was everywhere.

"Everything in here from the back room to the front is molded," Bennett said. 

Bennett wore a mask as she pointed to mold and mildew growing on her windows, walls and floors.

Bennett said property managers have refused to move the residents to other apartments, claiming there aren't any available.

"We pay our rent on time," Bennett said. "And you can look at a board inside the rental office that says we have available spaces."

Bennett said she called the city. On Tuesday, East Point code inspectors condemned the three apartments, ordering residents to leave immediately.

Brenda Ogburn lives in one of the now-condemned units. She is confined to a wheelchair.

"I don't have anywhere to go. I got to find somewhere to go," Ogburn said.

Ogburn's daughter believes apartment managers don't want to help them because their units are government-subsidized.

Bennett wonders if managers are retaliating against them for reporting the problems to the city.

"What she said was, ‘You should have thought about that before you called the city code out here,'" Bennett said.

No one in the management office would answer questions about the situation.

Members of the management team locked themselves inside the rental office and would not open the door.

On Wednesday Reddick Management, which runs the property, said they would relocate the tenants until the mold is cleaned. A representative, who did not give her name, admitted management should have been more compassionate and should have given tenants more options.

Ogburn said she would be satisfied if management follows through with its offer. "If they do it, I'm very happy with what they're telling me," Ogburn said.

Bennett said management told her apartments were available at other properties owned by Reddick. When asked if she'd move, Bennett said "if it's available to us, yes."

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