2024-01-19 21:14:00
EAST HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) – What’s next for the East Hartford tenants forced to move out of their apartments last night after they say their landlord left them without heat for several days?
The Chapman Arms Apartments are still off limits for now. The town says the management company will begin repairs on Monday. Tenants say they were told to expect to be out through at least the 27th.
While the town works to solve the heating problem, tenants are staying in hotels across the town. We’re told the town is picking up the bill and has plans to recoup the costs from the landlord later.
Laurie Young is looking at the bright side after being forced to leave her apartment suddenly last night.
“No it’s not too bad, believe it or not. I think positive,” says Young. “I just took a few things necessary, phone, toothpaste, toothbrushes, eye glasses, necessities, a little bit of food.”
That’s because she’s actually got heat at the Economy Inn.
She and about 30 other tenants from the Chapman Arms Apartments are staying at the inn after the Town of East Hartford deemed their apartments unsafe to live in.
Tenants had been living without heat since Sunday.
“I want to say a big thank you to social services and the Town of East Hartford,” says Damian Hewitt.
Damian Hewitt had been using his stove to keep warm until the town stepped in.
“That’s not okay. Because anything can happen with an electrical fire or anything like that. We are supposed to have a heated house and not use our ovens,” says Hewitt.
As we told you, the apartments are managed by Stratus Equities.
It’s a company owned by a New Jersey man named Michael Kohen.
Tenants tell us they have not been helpful.
For the second day in a row, we went to their offices to ask questions.
Despite hearing people inside the office, they did not open the door.
Kohen and Stratus Equities own apartments across the state, around 18 buildings in East Hartford alone.
Several in Manchester as well, including the Brownstone Apartments, where we’re told the heat had been off for several days.
The Town of Manchester was set to move tenants until Stratus fixed the problem earlier Friday.
The I-Team has investigated Kohen before.
In 2022, Kohen sold 27 of his 28 apartment buildings in Hartford for $59 million dollars after he had been fined more than $16,000 for violations.
East Hartford’s Mayor says they too have had multiple problems with Stratus over the years, and are working on a long-term solution.
Tenants just don’t want to be caught in the middle any longer.
We’ve requested all of East Hartford’s records regarding fines and violations concerning Stratus Equities and Kohen. They are working on the request.
We’ve also done the same in Manchester.
We will continue to follow this story.
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