Granada Gardens Tenant Association Statement
NEOCH has stood with the Granada Gardens Tenant Association for two years. Residents have remained brave in the face of intimidation and neglect by a corrupt ownership group, while continuing to fight for the dignity they deserve. Today we stand in solidarity with each and every resident and demand Housing Justice Now!
Read about Granada Gardens
News 5 Cleveland: Warrensville Hts. tenants protest at city hall over apartment living conditions
19 News: Granada Gardens tenants request city of Warrensville Heights take action against landlord
WKYC Channel 3: Warrensville Heights apartments become infested with mice, mold
Who: Members and leaders of the Granada Gardens Tenant Association (all tenants). The Granada Gardens Tenant Association represents the collective interests of the residents of Granada Gardens. Membership extends to all tenants. The Association seeks improved living conditions for its members by working to ensure proper response is given to maintenance requests, adequate security is provided, and to ensure a better and more equitable working relationship with the management of Granada Gardens Apartments.
Spokesperson: Louis Brownlowe, Granada Gardens Tenant Association president, will be the primary spokesperson. Tenants who have faced injury or life-threatening events due to poor conditions at Granada Gardens will also speak. That includes tenants sent to the hospital from slipping on ice-covered lots/walkways, tenants assaulted due to lack of security, lighting, properly locking doors, tenants trapped on malfunctioning elevators or unable to get out of their building; tenants confronting chronic water damage and similar conditions including mold, mice, roaches, heat/hot water outages, etc.; and tenants who struggle to care for ill family members due to these conditions.
Why: Under a court order, Granada Gardens had new, more responsive landlord from October 2024-February 7, 2025. Though there was still a lot of work to do, tenants had started to see some small, positive changes. They had hope. Then without warning a one-sentence court order brought back the old landlord. Conditions immediately got worse. The residents of Granada Gardens are fed up with the landlord. They are fed up with getting cut out of decisions about the place they call home. The landlord, Granada Apartments Ltd. must take immediate action to stop endangering the life, health, and safety of its tenants. They must immediately address snow and ice removal, security, and repair elevators. Landlord made no response to the Tenant Association’s demand letter of 2/12 that asked for action by 2/14 on the above. Granada Apartments Ltd. should be ashamed of the conditions at the property. If they won’t do the right thing on their own, then the Tenant Association will act to force them to do the right thing or replace them with someone who will.
Why now: In October 2024, a foreclosure action was filed against Granada Apartments Ltd. by Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae holds the mortgage on the property and says Granada Apartments Ltd. defaulted on the mortgage by failing to maintain the property in decent condition. The court appointed a receiver in November to take control of the property and make repairs. Although the receiver struggled to get Granada Apartments Ltd. to comply with the order, he was slowly making a difference. Under his property manager, GoldOller, tenants saw their first winter in years without extended building-wide heating outages. When elevators went down they were put back into commission more quickly. Tenants saw effective snow removal, security patrols, and pest control, among other improvements. GoldOller ended enforcement of the owner’s improper water charge. A lot of work remained but Tenant Association members had hope. On Feb. 6, GoldOller agreed to a detailed plan to get the work done. Then on Feb. 7, the Eighth District Court of Appeals removed the receiver with a one-sentence order. Granada Apartments Ltd. came back that same day. The Tenant Association leaders promptly asked them to agree to GoldOller’s plan. Granada Apartments Ltd. did not even respond. The residents of Granada Gardens are fed up with the owner and with getting cut out of decisions about the place they call home.
Below are photos of the current conditions of one of the Granada Gardens apartments riddled with black mold, leaking water, mice, and broken elevators.
