Residents at Durham apartment complex relieved to learn they won't be evicted
A group of residents in Durham who were previously told they had to find new places to live by the end of the year have since gotten some good news.
WRAL has learned no tenants will be evicted right away from Braswell Apartments, which is being sold to two new owners.
Reformation Asset Management, the property management company that represents the new owners, had sent a letter letter to the apartment's tenants in November asking them to vacate their homes by the end of the year. The company's owner, Charles Bulthuis, said because of the condition of the properties, residents had to leave for repairs to be made.
"Their [apartments] are in substantial disrepair," said Bulthuis. "They have roofs that are falling in. They have holes in the walls. They have a flood situation. They have a retaining wall that is completely gone. One of the units gets flooded by mud and water. There are infestations of cockroaches, evidence of mice and other rodents," he added.
Although Reformation Asset Management offered to help the residents find new homes, waive application fees, and provide other support, many still pleaded to stay in their homes.
The mayor and other city officials met with both the tenants and the new property owner, and dozens of people rallied around the tenants. Many of the residents of the complex on North Buchanan Boulevard are disabled, elderly or raising small children.
In an earlier story, a sales contract shared with WRAL News included a clause that requires Braswell Properties, the current owner, to give tenants notice that they must move by January as a condition of the sale of the property to Reformation Asset Management. But Braswell owner Varon Braswell says Reformation Asset Management owner Charles Bulthuis "jumped the gun" on the process in sending a letter to tenants on Nov. 29 giving them until Dec. 31 to vacate their homes.
A representative of Bulthuis told WRAL News that all tenants in the properties were on "hold over leases," which means either tenant or landlord could terminate the lease with 30 days' written notice once the original lease term ended.
The representative indicated the letter was intended to be the first part of the eviction process, which can take an extended period of time, and that Bulthuis is following the law.
