LAGRANGE, Ga. — A LaGrange renter says her landlord is defying a judge’s order to pay her nearly $3,000 after her apartment ceiling collapsed.
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Ericia Smith says the ceiling in her Autumn Ridge apartment fell in August after months of complaints about cracks from water damage. Police and firefighters who responded documented that maintenance could not be reached and that the damage appeared structural.
A judge later ruled the landlord identified by Smith as G2 Multifamily Property Management must pay Smith for the damage. Smith said the company has not complied with the court order and, two days after the judgment, emailed her insisting she owed the landlord the same amount the judge awarded her.
“They’re denying that they should owe me anything,” Smith said.
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Smith said her landlord also charged her for the repairs and later terminated her lease. When she refused to pay, the landlord took her to court. The judge ruled in Smith’s favor, but she says she has not received any money.
“She had a lawyer with them and I didn’t,” Smith said. “But the evidence I had was so overwhelming that the judge could not ignore it.”
LaGrange councilman Leon Childs Jr. called Smith’s case an example of behavior the city should not tolerate.
“She is one of the few residents I know in this city who went against those high-paid lawyers,” Childs said. “We absolutely don’t want that kind of disrespect in our city.”
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Smith moved to another rental down the street, only to learn the same company had purchased that property. Days after moving in, she said, a busted pipe caused a water leak that damaged furniture and other belongings.
A leasing-office employee told a Channel 2 Action News reporter she could not answer questions. An email to the company seeking comment hasn’t been answered.
Smith has filed a court response over the unpaid judgment and has launched a GoFundMe to help replace destroyed furniture and belongings.
Click here to donate.
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