Seniors at an affordable apartment building facing doubling rents say a proposal for temporary assistance won't help their long-term situation. But the state agency responsible for overseeing affordable housing says the rent hikes they're facing are within limits set by the federal government.
Cincinnati-based Kingsley and Co. built the 50-unit Victory Vistas in Paddock Hills for low- and moderate-income seniors. The building opened last October.
Under the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits Kingsley used to fund the construction, 40 of the building's units must be offered at 60% AMI — generally meaning rents under about $1,200 a month. The other 10 must be priced at 30% AMI, or about $600 a month.
In October this year, about a dozen renters got notices their rents were going from the 30% AMI level to the 60% level, effectively doubling what they were paying.
That caused extreme anxiety among tenants and condemnations from Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval and members of City Council.
Kingsley and development partner SO-ACT have said they will cover the rent increases through March 1, 2026. But some seniors facing the doubled rents say they're still extremely worried.
"There may be an increase, but it has to be a reasonable increase," Victory Vistas resident Carol Brown said. Her rent went from about $500 a month to more than $1,110 a month. "That's not fair to anyone. It just hurts to see seniors have this fear you'll have to leave your place."
The Ohio Housing Finance Agency, which administers the federal tax credits Kingsley received for the project, says it appears Kingsley hasn't violated the terms of those awards.
"LIHTC property owners can increase rents as they see fit to maintain the long-term financial stability of the property. However, they cannot charge residents more than the LIHTC rent limits set by HUD," a statement from OHFA says. "The rent that Kingsley will charge its residents are within the maximum allowed by HUD."
The Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati is representing the residents facing rent increases. They've taken issue with the idea that Kingsley can change their rents so dramatically and say that the proposed rental aid until March isn't a sufficient fix to the problem the tenants face.
"Legal Aid and the Victory Vistas residents maintain that they have the legal right to live at Victory Vistas under their 30% AMI leases, paying the rents that were promised to them when they moved in," a statement from Legal Aid says. "The OHFA investigation does not speak to whether Victory Vistas has the legal obligation to honor those individual promises. We want to be very clear that this is not a solution, that the residents still face the threat of homelessness in just over two months, and that the residents will continue to fight for the affordable housing they were promised."
Kingsley says 10 other renters in the building also are paying the required 30% AMI rents. The company says the building's former property managers rented out too many units at that lower level, causing the development to be financially unsustainable. Kingsley says it's working to find a long-term solution to the situation.
"We continue to work diligently with local, state and federal partners, as well as local nonprofit organizations, to identify additional funding sources to help subsidize rent payments for residents," Kingsley founder Chinedum Ndukwe said in a statement. "It is important to emphasize that Victory Vistas tenants are continuing to pay the same rent as in the past year. No residents have been evicted or displaced related to the proposed changes, and we do not intend to pursue evictions."
The short-term aid, meanwhile, hasn't allayed Vistas resident Gwen Smith's fears.
"We don't know where we're going, we don't know what's happening," she says. "It's just a Band-Aid. There's a lot of anxiety."
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