Local realtor helping hundreds of people forced to leave their apartments

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga — As hundreds of DeKalb renters at the Forest at Columbia Apartments prepare to find a new place to live, metro Atlanta relator Veronica Woodard with EXP Realty reached out to Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln, wanting to help.

“All I could think about was the families, the moms with children, or the people who are on disability and low-income housing,” said Woodard.

Woodard says she has experienced homelessness herself and wants to help these families relocate free of charge.

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“We’re going to find something that’s right within their budget, hopefully, we can keep them in that same school district,” she said.

This comes after residents said that their property management blindsided each tenant with a lease termination notice, Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln learned.

Residents were initially given a 30-day notice. Now, the owner has agreed to give residents 60 days to find somewhere else to live and if people don’t move out, management says they’ll have no choice other than to take renters to court.

“It’s wrong,” resident Terrie Redding said.

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“It just did not allow us enough time,” residents said.

Redding echoes the sentiments of virtually every neighbor who live at the apartments — they felt blindsided by this move and many can’t afford to move in such a short amount of time.

“I was pissed,” Keys said.

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