Tenants at Charlotte hotel told to vacate in 30 days, but aren’t sure who wants them out
People on the cusp of homelessness living in a rundown hotel in northwest Charlotte have been given 30 days to vacate, a city government spokesman said Friday.
The city is working with nonprofits to assist with housing and other needs, the city spokesman said.
But tenants at the Lamplighter Inn, just off I-85 in northwest Charlotte, said Friday they’re confused because they haven’t had contact with anyone from the city or received a vacate notice.
And there’s confusion around who owns the property and is trying to push them out of the only housing shielding many from homelessness.
“In response, the City has activated its displacement assistance resources to support a coordinated and humane approach to this transition,” a city staff message to City Council members about the hotel said. “30-day notices have been given to the residents.”
Lawrence Corley, a media relations manager with the city of Charlotte, said the message went out to the City Council Friday morning.
The message to the council said tenants need to vacate the property because the Lamplighter Inn is under “new ownership” and a new owner intends to close the hotel. The message did not identify the new owner.
Corley didn’t respond to follow-up questions asking who put out the 30-day vacate notice, when it was delivered to tenants and how.
Vermelle’s Place
Many tenants have been living at the hotel since January, having moved in for a supportive housing program called Vermelle’s Place. It was billed as a transitional housing facility run by a nonprofit where residents could get affordable rent and on-site health services, counselors and a housing specialist.
But a Charlotte Observer investigation published in July found tenants were instead living in rooms with poor plumbing, leaking ceilings, cockroaches and water they didn’t feel comfortable drinking. And services weren’t being offered there.
The nonprofit ended its lease agreement with the hotel in December, handing the program over to the private company 4C, according to representatives earlier this year. Then, plans to continue the program between 4C and the hotel owner fell through.
Conditions have gotten worse since then, tenants said.
Ellen Miller and Eveco Haggins, a married couple who have lived at the hotel since March, said Friday that they and other tenants never received a 30-day notice to vacate.
Apryl Lewis, an advocate and founder of Kinetic Works LLC who has worked closely with the hotel’s residents, said she also wasn’t aware of any tenants receiving a notice.
“Nobody told me there’s 30 days. Nobody even gave me a time frame of everything,” Lewis said. “I don’t know what they’re claiming as a 30-day notice.”
Tenants recently found an anonymous letter taped to their doors telling them “new management” would be taking over the property on Nov. 1, and that it would be “undergoing significant security measures to ensure legal compliance with all local, state, and federal laws.” The note did not name the new management.
It also said the new management would “demand strict compliance” with payments from the tenants or they would be referred to the management’s legal department for removal from the hotel. But the letter did not say tenants needed to vacate within 30 days.
The message to city council members said a flier, in English and Spanish, was “widely” distributed recently with information on things like housing assistance and legal aid.
The flier also had a message that said the “Lamplighter Inn is under new ownership and some residents must vacate.” But it did not list which residents or when they would need to vacate.
Miller and Haggins said Friday was the first time they, and other tenants, had seen the flier when news media showed them.
Who owns the hotel?
The Observer in July reported that the property owner was Comodo Care LLC, a business owned by Chandresh Patel.
In a text message on Thursday, Patel said he sold the property to another hotel next door.
“It’s not under my management,” he said. “I’m not responsible here.”
He declined to be interviewed on Thursday about utilities being cut off at the hotel, and didn’t respond to a follow up interview request about the ownership situation on Friday.
Kennisha Crosby, who said she was the manager at the Loyalty Inn, said Thursday that the owner of that property was interested in purchasing the Lamplighter but decided not to buy it.
“We don’t have anything to do with them,” she said.
The Mecklenburg County Register of Deeds office said on Friday that Comodo Care LLC is still the owner of the Lamplighter Inn. Online property records show Patel purchased the property in 2020 for $1.2 million.
Corley, the city spokesman, gave conflicting information on Friday to the Observer. After saying the hotel had a new owner — information also sent to the City Council — he declined to say who it was. Then Corley later said Patel was the owner.
Harsh living conditions
The building’s water and gas was shut off last week, and electricity was shut off on Thursday without warning.
The message to council members said water was restored the same day, and that the city was working with Duke Energy “and other partners” to restore electricity and gas on Friday. Crisis Assistance Ministry, a nonprofit that provides financial assistance for rent and utilities, made payments to the companies, the message said.
Miller and Haggins said Duke Energy restored power Friday morning. Lewis said Piedmont Natural Gas was at the hotel trying to restore gas Friday afternoon, but it’s not clear if it was turned back on.
Tenants had to live the last week without hot water to cook and clean, and were unable to take hot showers. Many resorted to boiling water in pots and cleaning themselves over their sinks or in bathtubs.
With power out for the day Thursday, that wasn’t an option.
Tenants were unable to cook, couldn’t keep their food fresh in their refrigerators, and were worried about keeping medicine like injectable insulin cold.
This story was originally published November 11, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
