EUCLID, Ohio — A group of apartment residents in Euclid is scrambling to find a new place to live after they were told they had to leave their homes.
"I’ve never seen no disaster like this,” said 20-year resident Gregory Pam.
The clock is now ticking for residents like Gregory Pam and Jerome Thomas to move out of Euclid’s Lakeland Commons.
"They told us last week that we had to be out, and now everybody’s trying to scramble to move,” said Thomas.
News 5 asked Thomas how long residents were given to pack up and leave. He told us less than one week.
"By 12 o’clock, they’ll be locking up the building tomorrow. Twelve p.m. and whatever’s in there got to stay in there. Whatever’s out is out,” said Thomas.
News 5 went out to Euclid after we received an email from the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, which told us tenants at the Euclid Avenue apartment complex were told they had to leave their homes.
That’s when we showed up and saw a notice that said the apartment building is condemned and unfit for human habitation.
As a result, the Willoughby-based owner, Great Lakes Realty, has been ordered to close the structure because Legal Aid said the landlord has failed to make widespread, structural repairs to concerning areas like these crumbling concrete balconies.
“This bothers me,” said Pam.
In the email, Legal Aid said they reached out to Great Lakes Realty to ask them to fulfill their duty as a landlord. But advocates said the company has refused.
I also sent the realty company an email, and I’m waiting to hear back.
"Most of the people [are] throwing out most of their things and belongings, their bedrooms, furniture, because it’s too fast,” said Thomas.
Thomas said the apartment’s management team sent him and his neighbors a list of some nearby apartments to check out.
But Pam said they’re too expensive, so he has to move in with his sister.
"[Those] apartment buildings [are] doubling or tripling the prices. Why would I want to go there?” asked Pam.
Thankfully, Thomas said he found a new place for himself and his two kids to call home.
"You still have to go through approval processes [for] all these new apartments and figure out everything on your own. There’s no discounts. There’s nothing,” said Thomas. “It bothers me, but I’ll figure it out.”
In the meantime, Legal Aid said the city of Euclid is encouraging community partners to come to the apartment complex on Tuesday at noon to offer support to residents.
An earlier version of this story mentioned Lakeland Tower.
That building is open. The property owner has filed an appeal. Management declined to comment on Tuesday. On Wednesday, it sent us this statement.
"We are an out-of-state investor and purchased Lakeland Tower last year. We have already invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to rehab Lakeland Tower. We have some city violations that we are still working to resolve. However, we have not been issued any condemnation orders like Lakeland Commons."
