Scores of month-to-month renters at a large and affordable Osseo housing complex have been told by new management that their apartments must be vacated for upgrades, leaving many with no choice but to find another place to live.
The renters say they weren't given an option to reapply to continue to live there until it was too late. Some neighbors believe that up to half of the 86 units are already vacant, with more people expected to move out through April.
The notices sent out by QT Property Management, which took over the four buildings in August, have put a dent in the affordable housing available in Osseo, a north metro city of 2,800.
But Christopher Huntley, an attorney for QT, said the apartments needed to be cleared out for upgrades, something that hadn't been done in decades. "You can't do these types of renovations when these buildings are filled," he said.
Huntley said he didn't know how many vacancy notices QT had sent or how many residents had moved out. More than 30 renovated units were already up for lease Wednesday on the company's website.
"They wanted to essentially vacate the entire property because the renovations they wanted to do were going to be very intrusive to the tenants," Huntley said.
Long-term tenants, such as Greg Smith and his fiancée, are being allowed to stay until their leases expire. But their lease, paid with a Section 8 voucher, ran out this month.
"We were long-term tenants," Smith said. "And aren't those what you want in a building like this, a long-term … tenant who always pays their rent?"