Apartment Residents Told to Leave After Promise of Renovations

More than 10 residents at Cedarwood apartment complex, 1875 S 75th Street, have received notices that their month-to-month leases will not be renewed after being told their units would be renovated, according to a resident who has lived at the complex for almost 10 years. The resident asked to remain nameless until residents have had time to organize.

This is the radiator that our source claims has been broken since they moved in and management has neglected to fix.

“The whole time I’ve lived here, I haven’t had heat, we’ve used our oven to heat our apartment. I’ve dealt with mold, rodents, roaches, and bats,” said our source. They shared an image of their broken radiator.

According to our source, after a new resident moved in last year and didn’t have any heat, he filed a complaint with city inspections and code enforcement. Space heaters were distributed last winter in immediate response to code enforcement, yet radiators were not fixed as indicated by current photos.

After code enforcement came, residents claim management called a tenant meeting and told occupants that they would be moved into temporary units while their main apartments were being renovated, then they would be moved back in and their leases honored.

Residents noted that the statements or accommodations were not provided in writing. 

Following that meeting, residents began receiving notices to leave their apartments.

30-day notice letter received by our resident contact.

Our source says the majority of the people given the notice to leave have been women with children and individuals with disabilities and emphasized that 30-days is not enough time, especially for those who receive programmatic assistance. 

The resident provided photos of the apartment conditions and their notice letter. According to the Nebraska Tenant Landlord Act, the actions taken by the landlord are technically lawful. 

This action speaks to the challenge of finding affordable, sustainable, quality housing in Omaha. Although the property owner has the right to not renew a lease without disclosing why, residents are left to find adequate accommodations in a relatively short period of time, especially if they are on fixed-incomes. Other challenges of accessibility, affordability, transportation and moving costs also become major issues. 

Cedarwood apartment management, owned by Seldin Company, says there are no units currently available and that renovations will not be complete until the end of the year. 

Cedarwood apartments have an average 2.6-star rating on Google reviews.