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<br />baby and were short on time and money when they
<br />searched for an apartment in early 2009. The Peters
<br />Place apartments in Columbia Heights looked
<br />sizeable for the price, Fitzgerald said, and there
<br />were no obvious problems.
<br />He never saw the actual unit he would move into.
<br />Once there, the problems started immediately, he
<br />said.
<br />"The bedbugs were out of control," he said, and the
<br />bathroom ceiling leaked.
<br />By then, they were locked into a one-year lease, the
<br />baby had arrived and Fitzgerald, 33, had lost his
<br />job.
<br />A BB-gun shot left a hole in a window months ago and
<br />has yet to be fixed in a hallway window at Hillcrest
<br />Apartments in Forest Lake, owned by Hyder Jaweed
<br />"We were kind of stuck," he said.
<br />and his brother Asgher Ali on Wednesday, December
<br />29, 2010. Two other buildings in the complex can be
<br />Fitzgerald said the Jaweeds didn't listen to his
<br />seen in the background. (Pioneer Press: Ben Garvin)
<br />complaints and wouldn't fix anything, either.
<br />(Ben Garvin)
<br />Fitzgerald ended up putting a plastic bag on the
<br />ceiling to catch the dripping water.
<br />'THEY WANTED THEIR RENT'
<br />He and his family got out the minute the lease was
<br />Tenants' stories are the same: bugs, rodents, mold,
<br />up. (For more on Peters Place, see Page 9A.)
<br />leaking pipes, holes in walls, missing fire-safety
<br />equipment, broken security locks, unlit hallways,
<br />Tenants in the buildings the Jaweeds have owned
<br />broken or leaking windows, graffiti, inoperable
<br />across the state, including Burnsville, Brooklyn
<br />washers and dryers and overflowing garbage
<br />Center, Newport, Forest Lake, Fridley and Rochester,
<br />containers.
<br />are usually low-income earners. Many don't speak
<br />English.
<br />Residents at Brookhaven apartments, the Jaweeds'
<br />Brooklyn Center complex, got so fed up with the
<br />With limited affordable housing options in the
<br />landlords' nonresponsiveness last fall that they sent
<br />suburbs, low-income renters have few other
<br />a letter to the landlords and city officials detailing a
<br />choices. Unlike some landlords, the Jaweeds accept
<br />list of problems, including mold and broken
<br />ds, the Jaweeds accept
<br />taxpayer-funded Section 8 housing vouchers. And
<br />taxpayer-funded Section 8 housing vouchers. And
<br />advertisement
<br />taxpayer-funded Section 8 housing vouchers. And
<br />they don't run background checks or require an
<br />they don't run background checks or require an
<br />they don't run
<br />background checks or require an
<br />application, according to former employees, making
<br />application, according to former employees, making
<br />application, according to former employees, making
<br />it even easier for those with bad credit, criminal
<br />it even easier for those with bad credit, criminal
<br />records or past evictions to put a roof over their
<br />records or past evictions to put a roof over their
<br />records or past evictions to put a roof over their
<br />heads.
<br />heads.
<br />The bottom line is that most of the tenants in the
<br />Jaweeds' properties are vulnerable, says Eric Hauge,
<br />a tenant organizer at HOME Line, Twin Cities-based
<br />tenant advocacygroup.
<br />"They're not going to
<br />stick their neck out when they know next month they
<br />might not be able to pay their rent," Hauge said.
<br />"When you have that much stacked up against you,
<br />you're just going to take it."
<br />htt://www.twincities.com/fdc?uniue=131842747276410/12/2011
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