Note – There is actually a judge and a city that are concerned about a dangerous and toxic apartment complex! This is GREAT! Not like in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where documented facts of a very dangerous, highly infested mold filled Jefferson lakes Apartments are ignored and allowed to continue leasing. The city, state, owners, management company (Riverstone Residential) and courts are all infested with corruption. katy
See –
Toxic Mold Infested Jefferson Lakes Apartments managed by Riverstone Residential
Riverstone Residential Litigation
Oak Ridge judge: ‘I’m in authority’ on Applewood – “I don’t want some child inhaling mold, and I don’t want the buildings to collapse”
By John Huotari
The Oak Ridger
Sep 14, 2009
OAK RIDGE, Tenn.
A court-ordered conference between the city staff and the “ornery” owner of the Applewood Apartments last month didn’t go well, so Oak Ridge City Court Judge Bob McNees said he’s taking charge.
“You were looking for the man in authority,” McNees told Joe Levitt, the Knoxville attorney who owns the apartments. “I’m in authority.”
The city staff, working with Corum Engineering of Knoxville, has alleged code violations at Applewood Apartment buildings at 182, 184 and 186 Hillside Road.
During a Friday morning hearing, McNees ordered Levitt to tell the court on Oct. 2 which code violations he contests, and the judge wants to hear testimony explaining why the violations are disputed.
In cases where the alleged code violations are not contested, McNees wants a repair timeline set.
“I don’t want to keep revisiting this,” he said.
McNees said repairs at Applewood could be long and expensive, and he doesn’t want Levitt spending hundreds of thousands of dollars.
At the same time, though, the buildings have some “real issues,” McNees said.
“I don’t want some child inhaling mold, and I don’t want the buildings to collapse,” he said.
A city inspection team has inspected all 13 Applewood Apartment buildings, including 10 on Hunter Circle, and intends to draft a prioritized list of repairs for all the buildings before the Oct. 2 court date.
The most significant concern appears to be the potential collapse of buildings.
The city staff has been prepared to pursue separate court cases at Applewood — citing groups of three to four buildings at a time — but it appears that those separate cases could be combined into one.
There could be a $50 fine for each code violation.
The city has issued an order of dismissal for interior code violations for some units on Hillside Road, where the city has reinspected apartment units and found that suitable repairs have been made.
The city staff and the Applewood Apartment management team met in a court-ordered conference on Aug. 5, following an initial July 31 court hearing.
The current case against the Applewood Apartments, long considered a local eyesore, has been ongoing for about a year and a half.
During Friday morning’s hearing, there was some discussion of having another court-ordered conference between the city and Levitt.
However, McNees said: “Is the meeting going to ‘go south’ like (the last) one? If so, there is no reason to have it.”
Levitt raised issues on Friday about the city’s inspections, as well as the findings. Among other things, he said he thinks the administrative inspection warrants the city used to gain access to apartment interiors were invalid.
The Oct. 2 court date is set to begin at 8 a.m. in Oak Ridge City Court.
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