NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Attorneys representing a group of displaced tenants from a condemned Newport News apartment complex said efforts to reach an amicable settlement with the building's owner have been "met with resistance," according to correspondence obtained by 13News Now.
The legal update, written to the dozens of former SeaView Lofts tenants by their representing attorneys, alleges continued barriers and complications from resolving their displacement in 2022.
Code violations, including elevator issues and boiler problems, led to a months-long condemnation of the now-called Oceanview Tower starting last June. Hundreds of tenants were forced out in the middle of the summer, given just two days to gather belongings and find a new place of residence.
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According to the update, tenants have recently been told the issues to resolve the matter "have unfortunately escalated further", in part, due to an Aug. 30 fire on the property that led to the building's condemnation again.
This April, attorneys also acknowledged mediation talks between the two sides had stalled.
This latest update comes eight months after a judge lifted a condemnation order for the building, as enough of the building's outstanding code violations had been remedied. Still, city officials circled back in April, saying that the conditions were still considered "unacceptable."
Included in the correspondence and fallout from this months-long saga, attorneys are again acknowledging a "lack of access to belongings" by the tenants, as well as "the continued delay in the return of monies owed to you [tenants] by the building's management."
"There are so many people involved. Parties can usually get somewhere in mediation, but only if the defendant is serious, and they don't appear to be serious in this case. That's pretty obvious based on how they've responded to the city and what's going on here," Jay Speer, one of the attorneys providing legal oversight in the case, said.
At the time of the building's condemnation, one state and one federal lawsuit were filed against SeaView Lofts owner Ben Weinstein. Len Bennett, with Consumer Litigation Associates and one of the primary attorneys on the case, confirmed to 13News Now Friday that the case remains in state court but "will now be expanding the issues alleged to address more recent events."
According to another analysis by attorneys with CLA, they write that there is currently "no electricity in the building, preventing residents from accessing their belongings," adding that residents cannot take items larger than what can fit in a trash bag because of the building's lack of power.
The correspondence penned to tenants also added that since the original drafting of the legal action, "almost a dozen more tenants have joined [the lawsuit]."
"We have these out-of-state investors come in, buy complexes, jack up rates and don't fix anything, and think they're not accountable to anybody," Speer said.
13News Now is awaiting a response from the local legal counsel representing Mr. Weinstein in the matter.