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Tenants at Fayetteville senior apartment complex say rent increase forcing them out

Daniel Caruth
/
kuaf
A Wedington Place Senior Apartment resident holds a sign protesting the housing complex's rent increase.

On Thursday night, residents of Wedington Place Senior Apartments complex packed around fold-out tables in the center's community room to discuss the news of steep rent hikes.

Rosa Floyd, whose 78-year-old mother and 84-year-old father both live at Wedington, helped organize this listening session for the tenants.

"Well, I mean you get a notice on your door when you come home and it says that. I mean, it's a huge shock and you just almost don't know what to do," Floyd said.

The meeting, which included input from Fayetteville city officials, state Sen. Greg Leding and several community resource and advocacy groups. Floyd said many of the residents feel helpless, and she hopes this discussion can be an outlet for questions and solutions.

"How can we step in and fill the gaps?" Floyd said. "You know, if people are choosing between food and rent, how can we help with that?"

On Aug. 6, the low-income housing community for those 55 and older learned their rates would be increasing. This news came after the building was taken over by a new out-of-state management company: the Little Rock-based Ace Telluride-AR LLC. Property records show the company purchased the property for $5.2 million in July.

According to a letter from the new owners to tenants, rent for single-unit apartments would go up from $520 to $900 and two-bedrooms from $750 to $1,150, depending on when lease agreements are renewed.

Deborah George has lived at the apartment complex on Telluride Drive in Fayetteville for nearly five years and said the increase is unreasonable.

"I know as a single mom, I did good to struggle," George said. "I mean it's not just seniors. It would be anybody that was considered low-income, I don't think would be able to afford it, and a lot of them would end up being homeless, and that's what's going to happen here.”

While some residents have vouchers from Housing and Urban Development or Veterans Affairs, more than half pay out of pocket. George, who uses a motorized wheelchair, said many of the residents are also disabled or severely limited in their mobility.

"Change is hard when you're a senior," she said. "You can see a lot of us with disabilities trying to pack up and move. On top of that and the moving cost...having to pay the fees somewhere else."

Finding another affordable, low-income apartment with access to transportation and a community of older adults, she said, is seemingly impossible.

Floyd and her husband, Michael, said they haven't been able to reach the new owners or management to answer their questions. And while she believes the rent increase is inevitable for Wedington Place residents, she hopes to see some future change.

"I would love to see the city implement senior housing as part of the 2040 plan that is in place," Floyd said. "We do have issues with needing attainable housing, so you know if people aren't eligible for Section 8 or VA you know you need attainable housing, right? You're in that gap."

In April, the City of Fayetteville declared a housing crisis and put together a housing task force. Tommie Flowers-Davis and Henry Ho are both members of that task force, appointed by Mayor Lioneld Jordan.

"There's very little that we can do to impact the rent increases, but maybe there's something we can do as far as future developments and that kind of thing," Flowers-Davis said.

Henry Ho said he is optimistic about the task force's role in bringing the issue up directly to the mayor's office and city council.

"My takeaway is this group of seniors in our community who are living kind of Social Security paycheck to paycheck really need a voice," Ho said. "So I walk away from this meeting saying we need to be part of their voice as we think about the incentives and things that we want our developers and our city to encourage is we need to put the needs of our senior community on the radar of the broader housing issues that we have."

He said Fayetteville has to prioritize building new and better housing specifically for seniors.

Billy Cook with Arkansas Renters United, a renters’ rights advocacy group, said the barriers to affordable housing and rate increases like this stem from policy issues.

"We have, you know, seemingly a large group of people in this in the state legislature who are for whatever reason resistant to stronger renters’ protections," Cook said. "Then also, as mentioned earlier, the Realtors Association has a powerful lobbying arm and they have a PAC and they always contribute to candidates that support them and their policies and they do a great job of hiring lobbyists to kill policies that they don't feel as though are in their interests."

But the Floyds are hoping the legislature will pick up the issue in their next session. Michael Floyd proposed some options for draft legislation, including capping rent increases for senior citizens.

“And then we'd also like to see a cap on how much the rent can increase per year,” he said. “Even 10 to 13% can be a big hit for a senior who's making around $1,500 a month in Social Security.”

Some other potential policy changes he presented were tax incentives for landlords and property owners to keep the rents lower and the creation of an Arkansas-sponsored housing voucher program similar to federal Section 8 assistance.

Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. The authoritative record of KUAF programming is the audio record.

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Daniel Caruth is KUAF's Morning Edition host and reporter for Ozarks at Large<i>.</i>
For more than 50 years, KUAF has been your source for reliable news, enriching music and community. Your generosity allows us to bring you trustworthy journalism through programs like Morning EditionAll Things Considered and Ozarks at Large. As we build for the next 50 years, your support ensures we continue to provide the news, music and connections you value. Your contribution is not just appreciated— it's essential!
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