Nyree Peters, a tenant at the Wellington Commons apartments on Seward in Detroit, speaks to the media about the illegal eviction that was attempted by the management firm controlling the building. (Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe)
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Residents can stay for 30 more days, DTE will not shut-off services
by Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
DETROIT--Residents of the Wellington Commons on Detroit's west side have won the right to remain in their apartments for another month. After receiving an informal letter from management on July 9 stating that they would be required to leave the following day, the tenants began to demand answers for why they would have to move because of financial problems faced by the owners.
On July 9 organizers from the Moratorium NOW! Coaliton to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions went to the apartment building to inform the tenants of their rights and to encourage them to struggle against the eviction. The Coalition issued a press release and attracted the local NBC affiliate, WDIV Channel 4, which covered the struggle extensively from the evening of July 9 through July 10.
When a representative of the management company arrived at Wellington Commons after 11:00 a.m. on July 10, he was questioned by tenants, journalists and members of the Moratroium NOW! Coalition. The management firm now controlling the building said that it was not true that tenants had to leave by July 10.
Also the management firm acknowledged that DTE Energy would not shut-off the utilities services on July 10. The name of the supervising firm is Elite Property Management and a man who called himself Bob spoke for the company saying that they wanted to place the residents in other apartment buildings managed by the company.
Bob told the Pan-African News Wire that the apartment building was owned by a hedge fund from New York and that the firm had decided to go out of business. One resident of the Wellington Commons told the PANW correspondent that a firm called Stillwater Capital was actually the owners.
Later two officers from the Detroit Police Department came on the scene and went into the building to talk with the management. The officers later told the residents that the owners of the building owed over $100,000 in past due utilities bills.
However, the actual amount of the bill could not be substantiated. Moreover, this was not the fault of the tenants who have utility costs included in their monthly rent payments.
Later the representative of the Elite Property Management company, who called himself Bob, said that any resident could move into another building supervised by the firm without paying a deposit.
The epidemic of foreclosure and eviction is a serious problem in Detroit and throughout the United States. In many cases, where people rent homes and apartments, the tenants are not aware of the financial difficulties facing the owners. When they are ordered to move by the management firms that take over operations, many residents are not aware of their rights. A great number of the evictions that are carried out by the private interests controlling the properties are in fact illegal because they are not conducted through the courts.
These problems are reflective of the need for a declaration of an economic state of emergency in Michigan and throughout the country. There needs to be a general moratorium on all foreclosures and evictions in the United States.
According to government statistics, over four million people have lost their jobs since late 2007. Also the rate of foreclosure increased by over 30% during the first quarter of 2009. All together nearly 30 million workers are either unemployed or underemployed in the United States.
Under such circumstances, it is not at all surprising that working people are losing their homes and apartments at a phenomenal rate. This is why there is the need for a broad-based fightback movement to wage a protracted struggle against foreclosure and eviction, for full employment, universal health care and the end to all imperialist wars of aggression and occupation.
No comments:
Post a Comment