Hank Heideman has lived in his Corryville apartment for eight years. He says when he moved in, management took care of problems quickly, regularly sprayed for bugs, and were generally responsive.
Then things shifted. Records with the Hamilton County Auditor show an LLC associated with real estate investment group Vision & Beyond purchased the property around 2020.
Heideman says management became much harder to reach. Maintenance and repairs were temporary and cheap, if they happened at all. And bigger problems started. A leak in the ceiling in the hallway outside his unit began to spread.
"You can see there's a ton of leakage coming from that rooftop," he says, pointing to stains and cracks in the ceiling above the hallway. Then he walks into his unit and points out cracks and water damage all along his ceiling going to a back bedroom. "And now it comes in on my end. It goes all the way over here, coming down on both ends of my bed."
Complex case grinds on — but help could be coming
Vision & Beyond abandoned the building where Heideman lives along with almost 70 others late last year. That set off a big legal battle over ownership of the properties — and caused a lot of uncertainty for tenants like Heideman.
The next step in that court fight will happen July 9, when Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins could rule on a motion that would change the property manager at some of the buildings once owned by Vision & Beyond.
The city could step in soon at other properties. Heideman and tenants from three other former Vision & Beyond buildings, members of a tenant's union advocating for better conditions, met with Mayor Aftab Pureval and other city officials recently.
"I was impressed that we even got a meeting with them," Heideman says. "[Mayor Pureval] was really engaged. He was asking questions and they ran down what the city could do."
A city spokesperson acknowledged the meeting but didn't elaborate on next steps. Tenants say they were told city inspectors will be at their buildings soon to assess conditions and see about the feasibility of repairs. The city would likely have to name the buildings public nuisances before potentially paying for any repairs on them.
Post-Vision & Beyond struggles
in the wake of Vision & Beyond's failure, Heideman says he went without hot water for a week when no one was taking care of the building. Doors into the building and its identical neighbor are unlocked, and strangers sometimes sleep in the basements or gather in the hallways. Tenants in the neighboring building complain of black mold, severe leaks and other big issues.
Heideman is disabled and can't easily afford higher rents elsewhere — and he's afraid he won't ever see his security deposit again, making moving financially daunting.
There's a temporary property manager looking after Heideman's building and many others called Prodigy Properties. But the company says it doesn't have the funding to fix all the problems and can't borrow the money because the buildings are caught up in the complicated legal battle.
Legal Aid of Greater Cincinnati attorney Nick DiNardo represents tenants at several former Vision & Beyond properties. He says he understands the frustrations with Prodigy — and also some of the difficulties facing the court-appointed property manager. He says the company has done a good job in similar situations in the past, but might be facing more than it can handle.
"Anytime you call Prodigy for any kind of assistance, whether it's 'My air conditioner broke,' or 'I have two inches of sewage in my apartment,' or whatever else, their response has mostly been, 'We're insolvent, we can't really fix anything," he said. "And there's some truth to that. But we're getting concerned that the response from Prodigy is not really satisfactory."
The court fight over the former Vision & Beyond properties has been unfolding for months. The company's founders are accused of a complex fraud scheme in which they took out mortgages on the buildings without investors who primarily owned them knowing, then left with the money, defaulting on the loans. Now those investors are left to tangle with mortgage companies over who owns the properties.
Attorneys representing investors who bought into about two dozen Vision & Beyond properties say they're unhappy with how Prodigy has run things. They filed a motion to remove the company from management at those buildings. Jenkins could rule on that motion during the July 9 hearing.
More help from the City of Cincinnati?
As fights over who will temporarily manage the properties and ultimately own them continue in court, it remains an open question how issues at the buildings where hundreds still live will be addressed.
Cincinnati City Council last month approved $400,000 for another former Vision & Beyond property called Kirby Apartments in Mount Airy. A severe sewage issue there threatened to necessitate the relocation of residents.
DiNardo says the city's help has made a difference.
"Overall, we feel like the city has been pretty proactive and has been doing a decent job here," he said. "The tenants have been pretty satisfied that the city has put forward six figures to fix the sewage issue."
Heideman says he hopes the city will do the same for him and his neighbors soon. He says he got notifications recently that city inspectors are scheduling visits.
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