Rather than respond to the real demands of tenants who spoke out during April 21’s City Council meeting, tenants at Chelsea Gardens received notices of condemnation of the property in only one week’s time. On Monday, April 21, tenants and community members went to city hall to demand that the evictions stop, and that the city council hold this landlord accountable. Instead of taking action to ensure tenants are secure, the council has instead colluded with the criminal landlord to remove the tenants. The city is not providing any immediate housing or compensation for tenants, just police enforcement of homelessness and displacement.
Where is the relocation assistance? Where is the accountability for the slumlords who let the complex deteriorate, and have been illegally evicting tenants? The landlord neglected repairs for years yet the tenants of Chelsea Gardens are forced to pay the price!
“Tenants poured their hearts out during public comment yesterday and were met with silence,” said Monica Johnson, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “We see this as a spiteful action taken by a city government that doesn’t want to be held accountable.”
The Chelsea Gardens crisis mirrors a broader pattern in metro Atlanta, where corporate landlords neglect maintenance, hike rents, and displace working-class communities—disproportionately Black families. We demand that local officials enforce housing codes and tenant protections already on the books. Additionally, we must expand housing rights in Atlanta, starting with repealing the state ban on rent control. The city should fine delinquent landlords and put the monies in a housing trust fund!
Tenants and advocates will be available during and after the rally for interviews.
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