Residents displaced from condemned units at the Church Street South Apartments in New Haven have been living in hotels, waiting on a permanent place to live, and a civil rights attorney working with some of the affected residents said they plan on filing for damages.
About 50 units in the 300-unit low-income housing complex have been condemned because of mold and leaks, and residents who were forced out have been living in temporary facilities for as long as two months.
While residents are glad to be out of the complex, they said living in temporary housing isn’t exactly ideal and some will be filing for damages, according to attorney David Rosen, including for damaged clothing, furniture and more.
It's not clear how many of the residents will be looking for compensation.
Northland Investment Corp. owns the building and said it hopes to have all the families moved by Thanksgiving.
The New Haven Housing Authority is assisting some of the families in the relocation process.
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"We have made substantial progress in a very short period of time," Northland Chairman of the Board Larry Gottesdiener said in a prior statement to NBC Connecticut. "We have relocated over 50 families into hotel rooms, and have completed assessments on all of the displaced families. Most of those families are looking at new apartments and our goal is to have all or most of them in replacement housing by thanksgiving. The on-site resident assessments are beginning as soon as tomorrow. All of this has been accomplished through a lot of hard work and teamwork by LCI, HAHN, HUD, and Northland, with one goal in mind – the health, safety, and well-being of the residents."
