In an ongoing effort to hold out-of-town landlords accountable, the City of Cincinnati has filed a lawsuit against a Florida multifamily real estate investment company that owns hundreds of housing units in the city.
REM Capital, headquartered in Bradenton, Florida, has a housing portfolio that extends across nine states, according to its website. That portfolio includes five apartment complexes in the city of Cincinnati: Heirlooms of Cincinnati in Bond Hill, Wyoming Crossing and Eagles Watch in West Price Hill, 5501 @ Norwood (formerly Williamstown) in Pleasant Ridge and The Views of Mt. Airy in Mt. Airy. Across these five complexes, REM owns about 850 housing units.
In a press release, the city says the lawsuit was filed by the Quality of Life Division of the City Solicitor’s Office, accusing the investment company of maintaining substandard living conditions, specifically at Heirlooms, where complaints of rat and cockroach infestations, raw sewage leaks and a lack of hot water and heat are pervasive.
“We have been crystal clear as an administration: If you are coming into the city, buying up properties and neglecting them, you will be held accountable. We have been hard at work through policy, investments, and litigation to ensure residents have access to safe, quality, affordable homes — and this lawsuit is a continuation of our aggressive work to protect and support tenants throughout Cincinnati,” Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said in the release.
The city says these issues at Heirlooms are affecting some of Cincinnati’s most vulnerable residents, including children, the elderly and those with serious health concerns. The aim of the lawsuit, it says, is to ensure that Cincinnati residents have safe, healthy and dignified living conditions, and it requests the court to order REM Capital to maintain its properties and appoint a receiver to improve conditions at Heirlooms.
“I want to applaud City Solicitor Emily Smart Woerner and her team for their exhaustive efforts addressing problem properties in the City of Cincinnati. Everyone deserves a safe, clean place to live. Our solicitor’s office is tireless in its work to see that promise fulfilled for all Cincinnatians,” City Manager Sheryl Long said in the release.
The lawsuit will be heard in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas. Robert Ritzenthaler, who co-owns REM Capital, says he reached out to the city, which agreed to meet with the company.
"We are all on the same page that we want the best for the residents!" Ritzenthaler tells CityBeat.
The city’s solicitor’s office has also pursued legal action against other landlords, including Vinebrook Homes, Wallick Properties, Avi Ohad/H&E Enterprises and Williamsburg Apartments.
