On Dec. 18, 2012, Metro Codes conducted a full inspection—inside and outside—of the Lexington Gardens property in accordance with a court order.
When concerned citizens heard that some apartments could be condemned during the inspection, two female community outreach workers attempted to distribute housing resources to Lexington Gardens residents. Unfortunately, Ms. Kim, the Lexington Gardens landlord, and her agents blocked the outreach workers from providing this valuable information to the tenants by calling the police to kick them off the property. Ms. Kim and her agents then photographed the workers and their vehicle license plates.
We are awaiting the status of Codes’ inspection and are unaware if they have furnished a list of required repairs. We are also unaware if Codes plans on following up on its inspection.
Ms. Kim is required to appear in General Sessions Environmental Court on Jan. 23. We hope Metro Codes and the court will hold her accountable, as no one has been able to far. We hope the court will enforce our laws against Ms. Kim and order her to make severely needed repairs immediately.
In addition to these developments, the Metropolitan Development and Housing Authority (“MDHA”) has terminated their Section 8 contract with Ms. Kim. MDHA is working to help Section 8 residents relocate to better housing units. This means that no future Section 8 recipients will fall victim to Ms. Kim’s predatory practice.
While we understand the need to provide Ms. Kim time to make extensive repairs, we also hope our community recognizes the immediate need to return the Lexington Gardens apartments to a safe and habitable condition.
While Codes and the court conduct their investigations, tenants continue to be shocked by faulty wiring, tenants continue to be subjected to broken pipes and insect infestations, and tenants and outreach workers continue to be intimidated by Ms. Kim and her slumlord-like practices.
We remain committed to the tenants at Lexington Gardens in their quest for justice.
*The Contributor, Nashville’s street paper on homelessness, will feature an article on Lexington Gardens on its front page in its Jan. 16 edition.*
On Dec 18. two females trespassed on Lexington Garden Apartment’s property. They were driving a blue honda civic sedan with TN license plate [XXX XXX]. They would not leave when asked, and argued for 10 minutes. They only left the property when the police were called. Two heavy set females arrived shortly after in a black suv TN license plate [XXX XXX] and also refused to leave when asked. The police were called again. Did the police allow these “outreach workers” to stay? NO. They were trespassing on private property.
Agents? do you have a lack of a better word?
Most if not all of the section 8 tenants want to stay. Many are staying and paying rent out of their pockets after the contract is terminated. Their housing is paid for by the government, they have a choice to go wherever they want, but they stay at Lexington Garden Apartments. Are they forced to? Are they scared of retaliation? Obviously not. They choose to stay out of their own free will.
Codes is already informed, already did their inspection, and things will be repaired in a timely manner. What more can be done?
License plate details have been redacted. It’s our policy not to unnecessarily publicize identifying details – for example none of the following are provided on this website: names of tenants who have requested confidentiality, license plates of the Kims’ vehicles, off-site addresses of the Kims, etc
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