METAIRIE, La. (WGNO) — A new development in the on-going problems for renters at The Maxwell apartments in Metairie.
First the air conditioning went out for about three weeks, and now some renters say they are being unexpectedly evicted.
The residents at The Maxwell apartments told WGNO they can’t seem to catch a break. Some of them tell us they’re being forced out, and it has nothing to do with paying the rent. It is all because of renovations.
“We got a letter saying we need to move out in 30 days,” a renter who has lived there for 12 years said.
Families living in The Maxwell apartments say they’re being forced to move out, and 30 days is not enough time.
“When you purchase a house, it is not a 30-day process. We don’t want to move to an apartment, but being such short notice, what do you do?” a resident said.
These residents say they’ve already dealt with a cruel summer with nearly three weeks without air conditioning at this complex, and now this.
“Basically, we have to afford four times the rent to make a move. Regardless of what it is,” Yari Benton, a mother of two kids and resident at The Maxwell said.
“They offered us that we could move into a renovated apartment, but it is more expensive,” she said.
The reason these residents are being told to move out is for a massive renovation project.
In a statement from a spokesperson on behalf of The Maxwell, Ed Cafasso said:
“We’re pleased to be investing in an improved living experience for residents at The Maxwell, a 53-year-old property that was never updated to modern standards under prior ownership, even after several hurricanes. Unfortunately, the required apartment renovations cannot be performed safely in occupied units. Twenty households on month-to-month leases were sent notices late last week offering them the chance to move into newly renovated apartments on the property and seven have already accepted our offer to stay.”
“A new start that we are being forced to start. We were trying to be strategic. Now they are forcing us to get out,” Benton said.
“Families are being forced out basically and put out onto the streets. It feels like betrayal from a place you trusted, and you called home,” a resident said.
Residents must be out by the end of September. Renovations will move forward in October.
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