RIVERVIEW, Mo. — Tenants at the Ridgeview Apartments in north St. Louis County's Village of Riverview tell our I-Team they have been illegally threatened to leave their homes.
Their homes are falling apart.
“There is pretty much no electricity. Running water is on and off," said Madeleine-Michelle Carthen, a community advocate.
“It's just a mess," resident Myron Bailey said.
"We're forgotten," resident Eddie Peevles said.
Their lives are in limbo.
“My apartment has been vandalized," resident Danita Hardison said. “Stole my refrigerator.”
Hardison is not just struggling with her housing but her health, too.
“I have bone marrow cancer," she said. “I'm scared.”
Worrisome notices
Hardison said her struggles have gotten so much worse. A couple of weeks ago, she and her neighbors found a notice to leave on their doors from the Village of Riverview. They said village leaders and police showed up, demanding they be out in 30 days.
“He said, if anybody's here the day after on the 16th, that they're going to be arrested," tenant Michael Lawrence said.
Our I-Team discovered that’s not legal, and village officials have since changed their tune. They’re now going through the legal court process, pushing the landlord to either make the building livable or condemning the building and forcing people out.
Village of Riverview officials and local nonprofits like Action St. Louis tell the I-Team they will be in touch with residents soon about next steps and relocation resources.
Despite tenants who believe they are being threatened with eviction, the Village of Riverview’s Mayor Mike Cornell said it’s not accurate because he said the residents who were notified that they had 30 days to leave were not legally supposed to be there. He sent us this email:
"The Village of Riverview Inspector assistant did send out proper notices to the Manager and Owner regarding the inhabited conditions months ago. Also, the Mayor and Board was recently made aware of the horrific conditions along with the new Building Commissioner. However, there was a notice sent to approx. 8-12 residents in error out of nearly 200 units who legally resides at the Ridgeview Apartments by inspector assistant. We’re currently working with several organizations and St. Louis County Housing Authority to get the known individuals approx. 8-12 some type of assistance for housing. The Village of Riverview has and is still working with the legally tenants, which in fact with the cooperation we obtain an arrest and confession regarding a homicide investigation."
Our I-Team found out the Ridgeview Apartments property has changed hands at least four times in the last three years. Residents said there’s such little communication that some people realized too late they were sending their rent checks to the wrong place.
We're told the building’s current owner is Nevada-based Hughes Private Capital, but our calls to the company go nowhere.
Attorneys said the company is going through bankruptcy, which could be why everything from maintenance to repairs has stopped.
Tenants said the building’s leasing office door has been closed since June and that calls for electricity, running water, and crumbling ceilings go nowhere. No one is picking up trash.
Housing challenges
The St. Louis area is seeing an increase in the housing crisis, going as far as evictions filed through the courts. Housing experts told the I-Team these problems reflect a lack of affordable housing. According to the research center The Eviction Lab, data shows eviction filings in our area are rising, with more this summer than any similar period since 2020. The research center’s analysis compared the summer months of June and July with previous, similar time periods.
In June, there were more than 1,600 evictions filed through the court system. That’s more filings than any month since January 2020, according to the Eviction Lab based on its analysis of St. Louis city and county court filings.
This comes amid the nationwide Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium, which took effect September 4, 2020 and was struck down on August 26, 2021. The City of St. Louis also had a local eviction moratorium in place from mid-March to July 22, 2020. Since then, data shows eviction filings have been climbing.
“It's a crisis," said Elad Gross, an attorney with the St. Louis Mediation Project, referring to housing challenges in the St. Louis area. His program provides mediation services to landlords, renters, homeowners and local governments.
Gross said he believes eviction numbers reveal just a fraction of the real problem.
“In terms of the illegal ones, those are so underreported. We really don't know what those numbers are," he said.
His goal is to avoid eviction, but he said resources like his can’t keep up with the need. That means people like Hardison are waiting for answers, waiting for a lifeline.
“I don't have anywhere to go because they collected my rent money, so I don't have the money to try to relocate," Hardison said.
“These families need alternative housing," said Carthen, the community advocate. “And the public officials, they're not doing that.”
Housing Resources
The Pro Se STL website explains how tenants can defend themselves from an eviction.
If you’re having problems with housing, you can call the St. Louis Mediation Project’s hotline at 314-833-0226.
Are you facing a similar housing problem or even eviction? Our I-Team wants to hear from you. To send a tip, fill out the form below, leave a voice message at 314-444-5231 or email the I-Team directly at tips@ksdk.com.