Posted on Jul 23, 2022
More than 1,000 may lose water — or even their homes — because a landlord didn't pay
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https://www.npr.org/2022/07/22/ [login to see] /1400-tenants-water-shut-off-indianapolis
Tenants of 1,400 rental units in Indianapolis are on the brink of a water shut-off due to nonpayment by their corporate landlord — a tenant-landlord dispute of such a scale that city and state officials have stepped in with legal action to head off the possibility of a mass eviction.
With an unpaid water bill of $1.7 million and counting, an Indianapolis utility company this week posted notices to residents of four apartment complexes owned by the nonprofit JPC Affordable Housing Foundation, warning that their water could be shut off in September.
With the water shut off, the city health department could declare the units to be in violation of local health codes, prompting a wide-scale emergency eviction, as first reported by the Indianapolis Star.
A shut-off would cause a "mass-homelessness problem in our community," the city wrote in a court document filed last month.
Tenants of 1,400 rental units in Indianapolis are on the brink of a water shut-off due to nonpayment by their corporate landlord — a tenant-landlord dispute of such a scale that city and state officials have stepped in with legal action to head off the possibility of a mass eviction.
With an unpaid water bill of $1.7 million and counting, an Indianapolis utility company this week posted notices to residents of four apartment complexes owned by the nonprofit JPC Affordable Housing Foundation, warning that their water could be shut off in September.
With the water shut off, the city health department could declare the units to be in violation of local health codes, prompting a wide-scale emergency eviction, as first reported by the Indianapolis Star.
A shut-off would cause a "mass-homelessness problem in our community," the city wrote in a court document filed last month.
More than 1,000 may lose water — or even their homes — because a landlord didn't pay
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Ongoing legal action and an uncertain resolution
In Indianapolis, the shut-off is scheduled for Sept. 30. "If an inhabited building loses water, the Health Department may call for emergency evictions," said Bode, the Indianapolis spokesperson.
In April, the city of Indianapolis and Citizens Energy filed suit simultaneously against JPC, along with its various associated companies and board members, seeking repayment. The Indiana state attorney general also filed suit challenging the organizations' nonprofit status.
For its part, in court documents JPC disputes the amounts owed to the water utility. The company also says it was engaged in good-faith negotiations over a payment settlement before the legal action began. It also claims that because Indianapolis used federal COVID-19 relief grant money to end the shut-off in February, the company is not obligated to pay the city back.
Litigation is ongoing in all three lawsuits. Tenants of the 1,400 units await a resolution.
For now, the city of Indianapolis has criticized the utility's threat to shut off the water. Allowing the litigation to play out — without a shut-off — is the best course of action to recoup payment, Mayor Hogsett said."
..."Ongoing legal action and an uncertain resolution
In Indianapolis, the shut-off is scheduled for Sept. 30. "If an inhabited building loses water, the Health Department may call for emergency evictions," said Bode, the Indianapolis spokesperson.
In April, the city of Indianapolis and Citizens Energy filed suit simultaneously against JPC, along with its various associated companies and board members, seeking repayment. The Indiana state attorney general also filed suit challenging the organizations' nonprofit status.
For its part, in court documents JPC disputes the amounts owed to the water utility. The company also says it was engaged in good-faith negotiations over a payment settlement before the legal action began. It also claims that because Indianapolis used federal COVID-19 relief grant money to end the shut-off in February, the company is not obligated to pay the city back.
Litigation is ongoing in all three lawsuits. Tenants of the 1,400 units await a resolution.
For now, the city of Indianapolis has criticized the utility's threat to shut off the water. Allowing the litigation to play out — without a shut-off — is the best course of action to recoup payment, Mayor Hogsett said."
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