Dilapidated apartments fined, prosecutor says 'not enough'
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - An apartment complex with deplorable living conditions, which has been the focus of a months long I-Team investigation has been fined. But the DeKalb County solicitor’s office didn’t think it was enough.
"That is not something we would agree to," DeKalb County Deputy Assistant Solicitor Karen Kenner Scott told a magistrate court judge Feb. 28th.
Woodridge Apartments management was fined for 30 code violations, and ordered to pay court costs of $21,600.
The FOX 5 I-Team started documenting those conditions last summer: piled up trash, ceiling collapses, exposed electrical wires, and raw sewage back-ups.
Ms. Kenner Scott called the complex "dilapidated."
The attorney for the Utah-based investment firm that owns the Woodridge Apartments tallied the repair costs at $1 million before they got into trouble; yet, citations showed 95 percent of the complex’s fire extinguishers were missing.
"They have also spent $1 million after they were cited," attorney Linda Dunlavy said.
At least $2 million in, progress was made.
And DeKalb County code enforcement officer Greg Smith told the judge, "The state of the property is that it’s in compliance for the citations cited."
Ms. Dunlavy asked for a Nolo Contendere plea, in essence, accepting the consequences but admitting no guilt, and a $500 fine for each of the 30 citations.
The solicitor’s office pushed back.
"We did object to a NOLO plea because we believe this property should take responsibility for the things that happened on this property," Ms. Kenner Smith said.
Additionally, she wanted to double the fines for each of the sewage issues. The company's attorney walked to the microphone.
"I certainly don’t want your Honor to have the impression that my clients allowed tenants to live with sewage back-ups.
But the FOX 5 I-Team documented raw sewage backing up into a unit's bathtub before county inspectors arrived to help.
Then-tenent Vartavius Thorpe showed us.
"When you flush the toilet, it comes up in the tub."
He said his son was bathing when it happened. The family has since moved out.
We learned in court that Woodridge Apartments now only has a 35 percent occupancy rate. The company, its management team, and its legal representative have continued to declined to talk to us.