In early August a fire damaged the Concord Hills apartment complex, displacing more than one hundred residents. The city recently announced legal action against the landlord.
The New York-based landlord, Greyhill Group, will be referred to the state’s attorney’s office for prosecution for violating city housing ordinances, according to Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam.
“This should send a strong message to landlords in this city, to the Greyhill Group and others who think that they can sit comfortably in their home this holiday season while residents are suffering in their apartments,” Arulampalam said.
Hartford is targeting Greyhill Group for its delay in repairing the apartments, leaving tenants without secure housing, Arulampalam said.
Earlier this year, Arulampalam announced the city was creating a housing taskforce to crackdown on absentee landlords, many of whom are based out of state.
On Monday, Arulampalam and several city housing officials shared a compiled list of other landlords in the city who are accused of being negligent, including Greyhill Group.
“Let me say this very clearly to the Greyhill Group and to any other landlord who thinks that they can bully the city of Hartford, we're not afraid of you,” Arulampalam said. “We are not intimidated by you, and we will stand up here in the city of Hartford. Here in the city of Hartford, we stand up for our residents.”
Dozens of families who were displaced from the Concord Hills apartment complex have opted to find new housing in the succeeding months.
About 15 families displaced by the August fire at Concord Hills are still living in hotel rooms, paid for by the city, according to Connecticut Tenants Union Vice President Luke Melonakos-Harrison.
“The way that this whole Concord Hills situation has played out could have been so much different from the beginning, if he [Arulampalam] would have had this more aggressive attitude towards them earlier on,” Melonakos-Harrison said.
Several of the 50 damaged apartments at Concord Hills were burglarized. Residents say some of their property was damaged and stolen, by a thief with key access to the building, Melonakos-Harrison said.
The city will continue to pay for hotel accommodations for displaced Concord Hills residents until early January. Come Jan. 10, residents are asked to find new permanent housing, which Arulampalam’s office has offered to help secure.
