Concord Hills Tenant Union Wins Temporary Housing Relocation

When tenants tragically lost their homes in a fire on August 10 at Concord Hills Apartments, 105-111 Sherbrooke Ave in Hartford, the city unfortunately relocated the families, including elders and children, to rundown mold and pest infested motel rooms with no cooking facilities. These unsafe conditions resulted in burglaries, hunger and health problems which sent two individuals to the emergency room.

 

The tenants responded to their crisis by organizing themselves into the Concord Hills Tenants Union, affiliated with the Connecticut Tenants Union, demanding their rights to decent temporary housing.

 

Forty-five days later the Tenants Union celebrated victory on the steps of City Hall after Mayor Arulampalam agreed to immediately relocate all tenants with children, disabilities, or health issues to better interim hotels, and in addition secured agreements with three management companies in Hartford to provide tenants with options for new apartments; and also secured an agreement from Greyhill Group, the owner of the Concord Hills Apartments, to return security deposits as legally required and to waive unpaid rent.

 

The victory followed two weeks of intensive actions including testimonies to the City Council, meeting with the Mayor,.circulating a community petition, sharing their stories with reporters,and mobilizing support from allied organizations. 

 

The night before, during a City Council meting, City Councilor Josh Michtom announced what the Mayor had finally agreed to. 

 

The displaced tenants had been subjected to intimidation by their management company, Greyhill Group, including threats of sending negative references to future landlords and demanding that tenants sign legal waivers in order to access their own belongings.

 

Mayor Arulampalam had initially declined to relocate the displaced tenants, as legally required by the Uniform Relocation Assistance Act (URAA). Following one protest the Mayor arranged for a “resource fair” intended to connect tenants to social workers and charitable organizations and to provide the moving assistance funds required by state law.

 

The URAA guarantees temporary housing and other rights to persons displaced by government action—including condemnation of apartments due to fire. The City of Hartford has been sued in the past over its failure to abide by the URAA on behalf of displaced tenants. 

 

The Concord Hills Tenants Union had the support of the Connecticut Tenants Union, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, and many community organizations who participated in the protests and collected signatures on a petition demanding immediate action.