COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — Two College park city council members are accused of forcing an apartment complex into foreclosure by hitting the owners with fake code violations and other harassment.
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Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes reports the people living there were forced out when the bank foreclosed on the property.
Families who were living in this apartment complex were already vulnerable, and many of them didn’t have anywhere else to go.
When the property foreclosed, families had one week to move out.
The new developers have renovated and new families will live here soon - but it doesn’t erase what elected officials are accused of doing.
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“Obviously they’re allegations and they haven’t been proven in court but it’s concerning,” said College Park resident Elizabeth Lester.
She said she is concerned about what happened to the apartment complex that used to be called Chelsea Gardens since dozens of families were forced out more than a year ago.
“They gave them seven days to move, and they didn’t have money for that. They didn’t have resources for that,” Lester said.
She says now that she sees this civil lawsuit filed against the city and two councilmembers, it all makes sense.
The lawsuit says councilmembers Joe Carn and Tracie Arnold were “... falsely attempting to shake down plaintiffs and others - to enrich themselves and their co-conspirators by using and abusing their powers.”
The lawsuit says they did that by creating fake code violations. It also says the two councilmembers forced the former owners to use their contractors to fix things.
“It’s concerning that city council members who are supposed to be legislators are involving themselves in the day-to-day operations of the city,” Lester said.
When the bank foreclosed on the property, the lawsuit says councilmembers Carn and Arnold brought in their own developer and made things easy for that new owner to take over by waiving permit fees.
Carn wouldn’t comment.
Arnold sent me an email that said “… My attorney and I have not yet had an opportunity to review the complaint in its entirety. I take these allegations seriously, and I am confident that the facts will be addressed through the appropriate legal process. …”
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