MABLETON, Ga. — Some families have been living in an apartment building that Cobb County deemed unsafe.
The county ordered them to leave more than 8 months ago. Now, some of the families who remain there are suing the owners of the apartments and the property management.
Before the City of Mableton took over code enforcement in April, the county says it took action, but once the lawsuit was filed they couldn’t force residents out for management to renovate the building.
Much of building 600 at Silver Creek Apartments is deemed unsafe.
Photographs given to Channel 2 Action News show rats and roaches caught in traps. Others show a ceiling partly collapsed in the breezeway.
Inspectors say they found mold, mildew, extensive water damage, problems with the structural integrity of the building, and more.
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Cobb County ordered the families living there to vacate nearly a year ago, but some remain.
“Tell me why you’re living in this building?” Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell asked one resident. “We don’t have nowhere else to go,” the man, who wanted to remain anonymous, replied.
He and his wife were among those who filed a lawsuit. “We were complaining about it when we first moved here,” he said.
They say if management fixed the problems years ago they wouldn’t be in this situation.
County officials say they worked with families and property management to relocate families.
John Marti is the CEO for the Embra Property Management Group, which manages the property.
“A handful of residents refused to move despite the Fire Marshal’s order. We’ve been in the process of tryin to formally evict them,” Marti said.
“Since the lawsuit was ongoing, the county could not impose a vacate order,” Cobb County Commissioner Monique Sheffield said.
That makes it impossible for management to make any repairs. Marti says repairs on the entire property will cost $1-$2 million, money he says the owners don’t have.
“There are not enough funds right now to fix the property, which is why we are getting more capital to be invested in the property,” Marti said.
Mableton Mayor Michael Owens says the fairly new city just recently formed a code enforcement department that has visited Silver Creek Apartments.
“(We) advised them clearly, clean up the property. Right? Address the trash issues, the overgrowth issues, the other challenges that may be there and if I need to tell them, I’ll tell them again myself. This will not be tolerated,” Owens said.
Embra Property Management told Channel 2 that they take over distressed properties. When they took over Silver Creek Apartments in 2023, they say they were trying to make repairs.
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