PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) — Lawmakers are taking action in Petersburg after residents at the Carriage House Apartments were told to leave their homes with almost no notice two weeks ago.
“Tenants have been reaching out to us,” said Del. Kimberly Pope Adams (D-Petersburg). “They’re telling us about the pests and the mice and the bedbugs and the things that they’ve experienced while being a tenant.”
Adams and U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) met with Petersburg city leaders on Tuesday, May 26 after the apartment building — which is part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Public Housing Program — was declared uninhabitable on May 12 following multiple code violations.
About 150 residents were forced out and are now staying in hotels after what was intended to be affordable housing for seniors and people with disabilities.
McClellan said residents have reported limited communication from property management.
“If we don’t hear from them by the end of this week, we’re going to reach out again,” McClellan said. “But I think they need to understand that we are reaching out to HUD. We are exploring all options, and if that means they lose their contract with HUD, so be it.”
She said officials are also exploring affordable housing vouchers for displaced residents, though many vouchers are tied specifically to the Carriage House property.
“A big part of the issue right now is [that] their vouchers are specific to the Carriage House — and that’s part of the problem,” McClellan said.
McClellan added that legal action has not been ruled out.
“We’re not backing down until these residents are living in conditions that every human being deserves to know … and that we’re going to use every tool at our disposal to make that happen,” she said.
Adams said a Q&A for residents will be held in June and multiple attorneys have reached out in support of those displaced.