NEW ORLEANS — The Willows Apartment in New Orleans East has been a problem for years. At Thursday's City Council meeting, members voted to force the owner to start paying property tax.
The Willows have been a problem for the city for years. WWL Louisiana's Eleanor Tabone has shared stories about the deplorable conditions inside units at the complex. Now the city is taking action.
In New Orleans East, on Lawrence Road, sits the Willows. Code Enforcement Director Anthony Davis says the apartment complex is decaying. He said, "I believe that the apartment complex is extremely horrific."
He went on to say, "It's boarded up all over the place, and there's deterioration throughout a number of the apartments, whether that's at the entrance or internal to an apartment, so the list just goes on and on."
He says the complex has hundreds of code violations and says problems are just patched over until they become a problem again.
Davis said, "They were found guilty of nine violations and imposed $4000 at an administrative hearing. Just recently, we held a daily fines hearing because the other fines weren't settled, and now they owe an additional $9000."
A non-profit Ministry Outreach Foundation owns the Willows. Because it's a non-profit, the owners don't have to pay property tax. City council members voted to revoke that tax exemption.
Councilman Oliver Thomas says his constituents deserve better, he told WWL Louisiana, "They're slumlords, they're non profits that own properties that aren't up to standard."
He went on to say, "You gotta pay taxes now; you can't be exempt for providing substandard housing."
He says no one should be living in an unsafe and unhealthy environment, saying, "We have to continue this type of aggressive enforcement in going after these people who are giving people substandard, nasty living conditions. No human being deserves that."
A class action lawsuit against the property alleges, "Tenants and occupants have been subject to substandard living conditions from 2014 to present."
Megan Kiefer is leading the suit; she says the council's decision is an encouraging one.
She said, "To try to bring some relief to New Orleanians, just to give them the base level dignity, living in a condition, where there's working water, working air, there's not toxic mold... Where there's not rats, rodents, and bats."
She went on to say, "What the lawsuit is about is trying to bring some monetary relief to the people who've had to endure these conditions while these out-of-town companies continue to profit..."
According to the tax assessor, the land and buildings combined are valued at $4,793,900. Dr. Richard Hamlet, CEO of Ministry Outreach Foundation, was not at the city council meeting. WWL Louisiana reached out to him twice and has yet to hear back.
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