Two dozen local apartment buildings caught up in one of the most complex housing cases in Hamilton County history are changing management again. Remaining tenants in some of those buildings hope the change won't make issues worse as they wait for the protracted legal battle to grind to a conclusion.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins Thursday ordered that RICORE Lee Properties LLC be replaced as a receiver overseeing 24 former Vision and Beyond properties in Greater Cincinnati.
Tommy Walker lives at one of those former Vision and Beyond buildings in Norwood. The company effectively abandoned dozens of residential properties like Walker's in late 2024. Its founders allegedly fled the country and are now accused of mortgage fraud in federal court.
Walker says he struggled with terrible conditions under the real estate investment group and two successive temporary landlords before courts appointed a property manager called RICORE last year for his building and 23 others.
"My first two years I didn't have heat in the wintertime," he says. "Vision and Beyond brought me like, one space heater."
The rest of the roughly 70 properties Vision and Beyond abandoned went to other receivers. Some have since found permanent owners.
Walker says things got somewhat better at his building under RICORE. He and other residents of former Vision and Beyond properties joined the Cincinnati Tenants Union and collectively negotiated with the temporary manager for rent freezes, better maintenance and clearer communication. The company fixed his heating, mostly. But some problems have persisted.
Walker and his neighbor, Glen Merriweather, point through the window of an empty first-floor retail space in their building that once held a Vision and Beyond office. Large chunks of plaster cover the floor directly below a water-damaged and crumbling section of ceiling.
Walker's unit is directly above the office. He says he's alerted his succession of landlords about a leak in the building's air conditioning system in his unit that's caused the damage. None have responded and fixed the problem, he says.
"I'm trying not to use the air conditioner as much as possible because I'm afraid the floor is going to fall through," he says.
Soon, he'll have yet another temporary landlord to report to.
Last month, RICORE sought permission from Jenkins to place the former Vision and Beyond properties it was taking care of up for sale. In court filings, RICORE attorneys grouped the portfolio into three categories based on condition and said selling them would be the only way forward without a large influx of money to address maintenance issues.
At the same time, a group of investors who purchased those properties through Vision and Beyond asked the judge to remove RICORE as their manager.
Those investors alleged RICORE failed to secure insurance on the properties, wasn't filling vacancies fast enough, was behind on maintenance and was continuing to run the units at a loss.
In court filings, RICORE said an accounting mistake caused the temporary lack of insurance, which has since been resolved. The company also said it's been difficult to fill vacant units in the buildings or completely address maintenance and code compliance issues without more funding, given the extremely poor condition some of the buildings are in.
On Thursday, Jenkins sided with the investors and ordered a new receiver for the properties.
Walker says either outcome would have been worrisome for tenants, who are concerned their hard-won agreement with RICORE over rent and maintenance will be moot.
"I've nervous about the next folks because of all the preexisting issues they're coming into," he says. "I don't know if they're going to want us to leave the property so they can fix it up. These things are all up for grabs for us."
All of this is happening as the investors in these and other former Vision and Beyond properties are also in the midst of a pitched legal battle with lending institutions through which Vision and Beyond took out fraudulent mortgages on its residential property portfolio. Who has claim to the properties — or proceeds from their foreclosure sales — is still being worked out by the courts. The issue is set to go to trial in October, 2027.
In the meantime, Walker and Merriweather say they feel like they're caught in the middle.
"Why should we have to suffer for something that has nothing to do with us?" Merriweather says. "My rent's being paid every month. His rent's being paid every month. You all have to figure this out. Not us."
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