Elderly and disabled tenants in Hud funded properties are at risk of neglect and abuse under the new Hud tax-credit financing program. A prime example is The HUD Transaction Of The Year For 2005 called by its new name Victory Tower located in Takoma Park,MD. For more than two years prior to settlement the tenants were severely abused by the management company Shelter Properties as they prepared for the upcoming purchase and partial renovation by ensuring that all tenants who exercise their rights or complain about code violations are forced out or verbally and physically abused into submission. The new owner Victory Housing did not want any tenant to interfer with what they already knew would be an award winning deal. Everything was all arranged by Hud in its varios programs to spend $12.1 million financing the purchase of this property from Montgomery County and a partial remodeling of this 12 story senior and disabled building. No one bothered to plan for the safety of the tenants during the remodeling for they all thought that so many of them would die off before the work began that is wasn't worth bothering about.
Prior to settlement in December of 2003 the county tried to do an illegal asbestos removal using hispanic teenagers who did not know any english and whose only protections were plastic wrap taped to their sleeves and a 50 cent mask. Tenants were all upset for many were coughing and taking mysteriosly ill especially when they went into the work areas which at that time was mainly the 12th floor. Asbestos removal work was being done in apartments that were occupied and no precautions were being taken except to ask the tenant to leave and to stay out for atleast two hours after the work was done. All of the tenants furniture, clothing, food etc. were exposed and no clean up was ever done. The asbestos materials were removed from the building by the main elevator without any precautions and this is also the elevator that is used to distribute food trays to the bedridden. Management would not stop even when many tenants complained so I called the Washington Post and spoke to a reporter who never wrote about it but did atleast call the manager, Michael Coles to inquire as to what was going on. That phone call caused all such operations to cease immediately and the whole crew ran out of here like rats leaving a sinking ship. I was already targeted by management for abuse because I had helped the tenant council years before get information that would help them win a racial discrimination complaint with the Montgomery County Human Rights Commission. I had right after the hurricane here in Maryland in 2003 gotten channel 9 news to come out and do a story on how we were surffering without electicity and how some seniors had fallen and been hurt. During their visit the back-up generator stopped working and chaos began. Management hated me for this and tore into me something awful. I was afraid to leave my apartment and more afraid to stay in it alone.
During the actual renovation of 2004 the whole building had to be moved about so that the work could be done 1/2 floor at a time starting again with the 12th. The noise, fumes and vibrations were unbearable off and on for more than a year and it was mostly on, even working on weekends and starting at 6am. Much of the work had to be redone over and over again because they just simply did not know what they were doing and the remodeler had hired the cheapest labor he could get and then if any training was given it was just task training with no supervision nor followup inspections. Many times hallways were blocked and debris was in the hallway that could hurt your feet. Fumes would suddenly without notice just come from the floor above making the tenants have to flee their home instantly. Men would be hanging off scaffolding by your window without notice. Hammering and drilling in many places all at once gave the tenants no where to hide from the irritating noises and this would be for the whole day. Some of the work was on a large scale and caused vibrations through large parts of the building again without notice. To a heart patient these vibrations could be potentially deadly. They terrified me and it was because my heart could not beat properly at these times.
All tenants were supposed to get all the help they needed to pack and move but no help was given. If you were not ready on moving day your stuff was just tossed in a bin like trash and then dumped out on your bed or floor. The first moving company broke and stole alot of things and no tenant was compensated. They were eventually fired for sexual harrassment. The second moving company was even worse. They were criminals who freely threatened violence against the disabled for by this time management was stomping on not only everyone's rights but literally on everyone to shut up and bow down or else which meant unlawful eviction or violence or both. It was a disaster and many tenants were ill with high blood pressure by now because of all the unnecessary trouble instead of professional service.
About the Author
I am disabled but hoping for full recovery. During the time of this recovery I am trying to become an advocate for the disabled especially those who are abused in Hud funded properties. I have a college degree from U of MD but am functioning at a level far below that after being electricuted near to death in one such Hud apartment.