UPDATE: Apartment owner may refund rents, help with moving costs

Tenant representative says while questions remain, it's hint of good news

January 4, 2021

Justin Walker, Maddie McQueen,

UPDATE 11:55 A.M. JANUARY 4, 2022

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (WTVQ) – A spokesperson for tenants of a Nicholasville apartment complex says management of the complex has provided some potential good news.

In a notice to media Tuesday, Galen Conley said management with Brookside Properties which owns the apartments at 500 Beauford Place-720 S. Main St. “has communicated through the property manager that deposits are being returned in full, there is no January rent due, tenants who had paid were asked to go to the office to get their money orders back, and tenants will be receiving some amount of financial assistance to help offset relocation costs,” although the amount and when it would be provided has not been finalized.

Tenants still are working proactively, making maintenance requests and reporting violations such as smoke detectors, exposed wiring and other problems to Nicholasville Codes Enforcement officers, Conley said.

“Brookside has put nothing in writing yet. They still intend to mail deposits out. And they haven’t set an amount nor distribution date for relocation assistance. Joe has been made aware that his efforts are appreciated, but he hasn’t exactly engendered trust,” Conley said of Joe Altschul, Brookside’s property manager.

“It seems as though for these tenants, a happy outcome is in sight,” he added, noting a lawyer is reviewing documents and will be contacting residents.

UPDATE 11:55 P.M. DECEMBER 28

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (WTVQ) – New ownership of an Upscale apartment complex in Nicholasville threatens to displace several tenants. Residents tell us it started December 6, when they received a notice that Brookside Properties had purchased complex.

Tenants say they later received a notice telling them their lease would not be renewed, and they had to leave by January 31st. Some of the tenants met Tuesday to come up with a plan and the meeting among tenants was filled with anger.

“This is disgusting behavior. It doesn’t necessarily stop here and people have to go somewhere, they have to have a place to live,” says Benton Clark, one of the displaced tenants. “I mean are you kicking people out and it’s the coldest month of the year and you’re sending low-income people out on the streets. I mean there’s just nothing, in my opinion, more despicable.”

Tenants shared what they called ‘bleak’ living conditions, including holes in the floors, broken windowsills and gutters, and living rooms that have flooded for almost a year now. These tenants say despite photographic and video evidence of the problems, no one will come fix it.

“People are obviously very upset with everything that’s been going on both with the previous company who owned it and the new company taking over,” says Clark.

At the meeting, tenants decided on three items of action. First and foremost, to contact lawyers and the Attorney General’s office for help.

“I was actually in my apartment when they were going around putting these notes in people’s doors and I was sitting there,” says Clark. “They’re not even like knocking on people’s doors telling them like ‘hey, sorry, you got to leave’. I mean they’re sneaking around, sliding in notes, it was dark outside.”

Tenants say they have tried reaching out to the new owners, Brookside Properties, but have not received any kind of explanation for this. We also called Brookside Properties for comment but have not heard back and no management was on site that we could talk to.

“It’s just the complete lack of disregard, not responding to anybody, not trying to work with anybody at all or be flexible in the slightest is what I think has really upset people,” says Clark.

Tenants say they plan to talk with lawyers Wednesday about what can be done and possibly even about filing a class action lawsuit. In the meantime, the tenants will be working together to compile all of the documents, photos and videos they can.

“I just hope people get taken care of at the end of the day,” says Clark.

ORIGINAL POST

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky (WTVQ)- Imagine having a newborn baby, only to return home and find a notice that you have to move out.
That’s the reality for Amber Williams and her family, who live at an apartment complex in Nicholasville.

“We found out just a few days after she was born, she’s barely a month old now and it was terrifying. I was an emergency c-section on top of it so, her just being a month old and trying to recover, it was heartbreaking,” Williams said.

Williams is one of about 20 tenants from the apartment complex who are facing eviction. Residents say it began December 6, when they received notices that Brookside Properties, Inc, a Nashville-based firm, had purchased the complex from Upscale.

Tenants say they later received a notice on their door telling them their leases were not being renewed, and they had to leave by January 31st.

“We had to pay January’s rent, and we have to pay a deposit, wherever we find to move, and the first month’s rent,” said Jossie Barnett, a tenant. “You’re talking about $2,000 that these people don’t have. We literally live paycheck to paycheck.”

We reached out to Brookside Apartments by phone and didn’t get a response. We also called the apartment complex office and didn’t receive an answer. No management was on site that we could talk to.

Williams says time is important to find a new home or her family could be living on the streets.

“My husband is supposed to be on vacation because it’s his first Christmas with his daughter,” Williams said. “And instead of relaxing and his brand new baby, we’re stressed out trying to find a place to live, and it’s not fair.”

Several tenants were planning to hold an organizational meeting at the Jessamine County Public Library Tuesday night to discuss their future plans.