Tenants file lawsuit

HAMMOND -- A group of tenants at the River Park Apartments have filed a class-action lawsuit in Lake Superior Court against the owners of the complex after they were forced to move because of health concerns.

The action comes less than two weeks after the Hammond Health Department discovered mold growing in several of the units and ordered residents to evacuate the apartments.

Highland-based attorney David Gladish filed the lawsuit on behalf of five residents: Nicole Walker, Monte Crenshaw, Darrell Liggins, Jeanette Hope and Sheila Bailey.

Gladish said the crux of the lawsuit is the way in which apartment officials handled the evacuation proceedings.

According to Gladish, the residents were required to sign new year-long leases after they were forced to move, even though the complex had other units available.

If tenants were planning to move out of the complex, they were forced to pay $50 more a month, according to Gladish.

"The kicker is that they only had a few days notice and their security deposits were held for 45 days," Gladish said. "How are they going to get another apartment?"

Gladish said the River Park owners, Graoch Associates, based in Dallas, breached the lease contract because it forced tenants to live in uninhabitable apartments that violated several health codes.

According to the lawsuit, the breach is based on "the condition of the apartments as well as the maintenance of the apartment buildings which is demonstrated by numerous code violations, failure to maintain heat and hot water in the apartments and other problems with the apartments."

The lawsuit also states "the Plaintiffs were forced to live in substandard conditions and pay more than the fair-market price for an apartment in such a condition."

Additionally, the lawsuit states "that the Defendants were on notice and aware of the presence of mold within the subject buildings and failed to address the problem" and "that the Defendants also failed to disclose problems with the apartments at the time the Plaintiffs entered into their original leases with the Defendants."

Graoch Associates could not be reached for comment.

The five residents are seeking unspecified damages for the breach in contract concerning how much rent has been paid; they also are seeking attorney's fees.

"We're trying to make an example (of Graoch Associates) so they take care of their property," Gladish said. "We want to make sure people don't have to go through this again."

Jason Thomas can be reached at jthomas@howpubs.com or (219) 836-3780.