Lowe said she had lived in her home for more than a decade when VineBrook took over her lease last year. VineBrook tenant Michele Lowe, who lives in a single family home in the 6000 block of Hemingway Road, reached out to the Dayton Daily News in mid-January reporting issues with VineBrook. unfortunately, these tenants’ experiences were not unique.”īrown, a Democrat from Ohio, is chair of the senate committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs. “Your company failed to respond to the tenant’s multiple maintenance requests, leaving them without heat for several weeks in the dead of winter. “VineBrook, and its practices, first came to my attention when a resident in one of your Cincinnati-area homes contacted my office desperate for help to get their heat repaired,” the letter reads. owns tens of thousands of homes, including nearly 7,900 homes in Ohio. Brown’s letter to VineBrook in December, he said VineBrook’s rapid expansion - citing a portfolio increase of 646% in just four years, to nearly 27,000 homes across 20 states - and “systematic neglect” of properties and tenants in the Cincinnati area is having “severe consequences” on local families and the city as a whole.Īccording to Brown’s office, VineBrook Homes Trust Inc. The most recent suit by Cincinnati against VineBrook in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court includes references to multiple reports of “public nuisance, civil conspiracy, and intentional, repeated violations of both the Ohio Landlord Tenant Act and Cincinnati Municipal Code.” We monitor resident requests and response times in real time and ensure our team is actively working to resolve issues for our residents.” “Resident communication is a very important component of our business, and we are constantly seeking ways to enhance our customer service offering, incorporating new technologies and touchpoints to deliver a high-quality experience. The spokesman says emergency work orders submitted by residents are typically addressed within 24 hours and other urgent maintenance requests are handled within three to five days on average. We are committed to providing a transparent rental process for our residents, with responsibilities and fees dictated by the terms of the executed lease agreement.” “Our corporate headquarters is in Dayton and our team prioritizes customer service. “VineBrook Homes is a company with deep Ohio roots that has worked to breathe new life into local properties and provide safe and affordable homes to residents across the community, helping set them on a path toward homeownership,” the statement says. “What makes VineBrook unique is that it’s hundreds of properties.”Ī VineBrook spokesman responded to questions from the Dayton Daily News via email. “There’s going to be some landlords that are worse than VineBrook and there will be a vast majority that are better,” Chodkowski said. Interim City Manager Bryan Chodkowski said the company isn’t the worst at complying with city housing rules, but isn’t the best either. This includes single family homes, as well as apartment and townhome units. Huber Heights officials estimate VineBrook owns roughly 15% of homes in the city. The court covers Huber Heights and Riverside. According to dockets filed in the Montgomery County Municipal Court’s Eastern Division, VineBrook filed 234 evictions in this court alone in the previous two years, which averages out to about two per week. An attorney who represents low-income tenants with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality says VineBrook assesses unusually high fees on residents, and is aggressive in evicting tenants even if they are in the process of getting rental assistance. An online Dayton Daily News survey found common complaints among those who had a negative experience with VineBrook cited maintenance issues. City officials say most violations are quickly brought into compliance and the company doesn’t have a backlog of fines or fees. From January 2022 to present, the city of Huber Heights has received more than 350 code violation complaints involving VineBrook.
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