MISHAWAKA -- The tenants who were kicked out of the Princess City Apartments last week are considering legal action.
They’re talking with a lawyer, trying to figure out if someone should pay for the squalid conditions they lived in.
“We’re in a fact-finding stage at this point,” said John Ulmer, an attorney with Cataldo Law Offices, who met with about a dozen tenants, Thursday afternoon. The meeting was closed to the news media.
It's been about a week since the city of Mishawaka condemned the Princess City building on East 12th street.
Mold, electrical problems, a bad sewage system, leaking pipes, and structural weaknesses all made it a very unsafe place to live, the city said, and the people renting there had to quickly pack up and leave.
Some had just paid their landlord, Randy Miller, who tenants say has been ignoring them and not making necessary repairs.
“You look at the due diligence of code enforcement, why this wasn’t discovered much earlier. Had it been discovered much earlier maybe something could’ve been done that would not result in the people having to move out of the property,” said Ulmer in an interview after the meeting.
“I think he gave them some good advice, he’s getting things organized,” said Sheryl Gerald, a social worker who has been helping some of the tenants find new housing, “we’ll see how things go.”
Miller did not return a phone call requesting comment.
Some tenants are still living in a Motel 6. Others have found new places to live.
