HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Civil rights groups say hundreds of tenants at one Eastern Henrico County apartment complex are having their rights violated by the property managers who are seeking to evict them.
"I think it's a complete mess," Laura Dobbs, a housing attorney with the Virginia Poverty Law Center, said.
All the tenants at risk of eviction live at the Point at River City apartments off of North Laburnum Avenue and Nine Mile Road.
Many of the tenants had scheduled eviction hearings that never ended up happening.
"Because without notice to them, those cases have been continued out," Dobbs said.
Dobbs said on Friday, the property management's lawyers got the hearings moved to August. However, tenants were not notified of this change.
In total, they said 110 cases were set for Monday with more over the next few weeks.
Dobbs was joined at court along with representatives from United Communities Against Crime and the Virginia NAACP.
Dobbs said beyond just failing to notify, there have been other problems.
VPLC said none of the tenants who they spoke with received a 30-day eviction notice from the current owners as required under the federal CARES Act and the property has a federally-backed mortgage.
"Basically, the federal government recognizing that everyone's been impacted by COVID. And they need that, people need that extra time to get the money together, get rent relief, find new housing," Dobbs said.
Additionally, Dobbs claims that tenants who were using housing choice vouchers were not given the required contact information for legal aid.
"The new property owner failed to apply for rent relief on behalf of tenants, failed to submit the paperwork even where tenants themselves applied," Dobbs said.
Several people CBS6 spoke with, including Toshia Reavis who helped her father apply, say they personally applied for Virginia's rent relief assistance program before a May 15 deadline and had filled out their portion.
However, the apartment management had not.
"They approved it. I called three weeks ago, they said they approved it. I applied on May 14, they approved it on the 31st and as of June 10, they have not responded. The landlord has not responded," Reavis said.
Dobbs adds they also heard from tenants who say they've been given conflicting information over the amount owed.
CBS6 tried to speak with the attorney representing the complex and then the employees in the leasing office at the apartment complex about the cases and concerns raised by VPLC.
We were told no comment by both.
CBS 6 also reached out to the management company's offices in Philadelphia and asked for responses to the allegations made by VPLC.
"We can confirm that some residents have received legal notices from the landlord/tenant court to appear regarding their outstanding balances. To clarify, they are not eviction notices. This procedure is in accordance with Virginia’s landlord/tenant law. We are aware that rent relief programs are currently experiencing backlogs and other challenges. We encourage residents to contact Gov2Go directly for a status update on their application and to contact our management team to discuss additional short-term solutions," wrote a spokesperson for Aion Management in response to VPLC stating that none of the tenants they spoke with had not received 30-day notices.
"All residents using housing choice vouchers were provided with legal aid contact information in July 2021 under previous ownership, Drucker & Faulk. Additionally, legal aid contact information was included on late notices in April, May and June 2022," wrote the spokesperson about the VPLC claim legal aid contact information was not given.
"Previous ownership, Drucker & Faulk, did apply for rental assistance programs on behalf of all residents from December 2021 – January 2022. AION Management applied for new applications for those who were not handled by previous ownership," wrote the spokesperson in response to claims of not handling rental assistance program applications.
"All residents who inquired were notified of their current balances. Those balances are also included on their legal notices. Additionally, all residents can make payments and access to their balance in real time through our online resident portal," wrote the spokesperson regarding VPLC's claim that some tenants had been given conflicting information on amount owed.
A judge heard a brief argument for one tenant who had an attorney present and ordered the two sides to file briefs in order to consider if the eviction notices compiled with all applicable laws.
As of now, the cases set for Monday have been moved to August 8.
Meanwhile, VPLC and the other groups that were out there on Monday say they plan to hold a community meeting with tenants sometime this week to talk with them about their rights.
