Moreland Woods apartment complex - Tenants plagued by mold will get relocation aid

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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 6/20/02

Tenants plagued by mold will get relocation aid

By ANDY MILLER

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

About 300 tenants at the mold-contaminated Moreland Woods apartment complex

will be eligible for a financial package of about $5,000 per unit for

relocation expenses and personal property damage, a local attorney announced

Wednesday.

Dozens of tenants heard details of the $1.5 million agreement at a Wednesday

meeting with the attorney, Charlie Peebles, who represents more than 50

current and former Moreland Woods residents.

Peebles said the agreement, struck with attorneys representing the owner of

the south Atlanta complex, does not include any costs related to possible

medical problems resulting from mold exposure. That issue remains to be

settled, he said.

Tenants have complained of health effects that they link to the mold,

including allergy and asthma attacks, rashes, headaches, fatigue and

infections, Peebles said.

He said the relocation and property damage settlement would apply to any

current Moreland Woods tenant, or any tenant who moved after May 6, along

with residents represented by him prior to that time.

The owner of the property, Grant Park Village Limited Partnership, said in a

statement that " Moreland Woods continues to have the interests and welfare

of the Moreland Woods residents as our top concern. "

An attorney representing the owner of the property, Grant Park Village

Limited Partnership, said the offer to tenants involves options that may

include a cash payment of up to $4,000 for each unit. Other compensation is

expected to bring the total to $5,000.

But Robyn Ice, of the law firm Alston & Bird, declined to discuss further

details because not all residents have been made aware of the offer. Details

will be spelled out in materials distributed to all tenants, she said.

More than 100 Moreland Woods tenants receive rent subsidies through the

federal Section 8 program, locally administered by the Atlanta Housing

Authority. The AHA began inspecting apartments at Moreland Woods after a

Journal-Constitution inquiry into moldy conditions in the units.

The agency then wrote a letter to the owner and managers of the complex,

demanding a mold cleanup and payment for temporary housing for the

residents.

The standoff between Moreland Woods management and the housing authority

climaxed last month, when more than 100 families were told to move out of

the complex May 31.

Some said they had nowhere else to live. But after media reports, the

property owner and the housing agency said the tenants could remain until

they found housing.

At least 37 apartments had a major mold problem, the housing authority said.

The complex apparently isn't the only Section 8 housing with moldy

conditions. Recently, the kitchen and bathroom of a west Atlanta apartment

showed what an indoor air testing firm, Southeastern Environmental, called

an extensive mold problem.

" Section 8 is paying for something that's a health hazard, " said Felencia

Love, the tenant in the unit, adding that her apartment had no hot water for

months. She plans to move soon.

The housing authority said Wednesday that it would inspect that apartment,

along with all units the agency owns, and the privately owned Section 8

units. " If there are systemic problems, they will be addressed, " said Rick

White, an AHA spokesman.