Water shut-off scheduled for JPC Affordable Housing over unpaid $1.7M water bill
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Another water shut-off is on the horizon for residents living under JPC Affordable Housing.
The scheduled Sept. 30 shut-off comes after Citizens Energy Group filed a lawsuit in April against the landlord.
JPC resident Natalie Drouillard said, “I shouldn’t have to live and have to wonder if I’m going to have water on the 30th to take a shower. Yes, I’m very worried.”
Drouillard lives in Berkley Commons apartments, located off Madison Avenue south of East Stop 11 Road on the south side. Citizens Energy Group says it’s going to disconnect delinquent water and natural gas services at Berkley Commons is because the landlord, JPC Affordable Housing and its affiliate, Berkley Commons LLC, owes more than $1.7 million in utility bills despite collecting rent to pay them. According to Citizens Energy Group, it has not received payments for utility services over the past 18 months.
Citizens Energy Group placed door tags at the JPC Affordable Housing properties: Berkley Commons, Woods at Oak Crossing, Covington Square, and Capital Place apartments.
“If you can’t flush your toilet and you can’t take a hot shower, then what’s the sense of paying your rent,” Drouillard said. “They don’t fix nothing, and if the property manager ain’t gonna do nothing, the people at the front office and stuff can’t do nothing.”
She says she’s been dealing with water issues for a long time.
“The garbage disposal broke, and this never worked, and then I had a leak in my house for like two years and I complained to them every month, and all they did was come out here and put another piece of board over, and it ain’t nothing but black mold,” Drouillard said.
Citizens Energy Group says it’s planning to help residents should the utility disconnections proceed. Citizens says it’ll provide financial assistance from available programs for eligible apartment residents relocated from the four apartment complexes.
The Indianapolis government paid $850,000 to keep the water on at the apartments in February. The city government and Citizens then sued the landlord two months later. Mayor Joe Hogsett calls the disconnect notices “disappointing,” but adds that the city government is focused on helping residents.
“First and foremost, we want to protect the residents of those properties, and we will take all responsible steps to make sure that they are cared for, properly housed, and safe,” Hogsett said.