KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Former tenants of the Aspen Place Apartments in Gardner, Kansas, filed a federal class action lawsuit last week.
Earlier this month, the city of Gardner posted a notice of unsafe/unfit structures and gave residents 48 hours to find other housing.
The suit claims the water lines at Aspen Place had "presented long-term maintenance problems affecting the delivery of essential services to tenants (such as water) well before condemnation.''
Residents rushed to move their belongings from the buildings, with help from friends, strangers and local charities.
"Naturally, the systemic water-related problems at Aspen Place, which were both realized and latent, were not disclosed to eventual residents before they entered their leases," the lawsuit claims. "Indeed, few, if any, would have entered leases had they been suitably apprised that the pipes running through the complex were liable to burst over Christmas; sewage was prone to back up in their market-rate apartment; or they may well find themselves completely deprived of water and the entire complex condemned."
LINK | Read the lawsuit
Some people who live in Aspen Place pointed out some of the many problems they encountered with maintenance and other issues while they lived there.
The buildings were constructed in 1954 and had 188 units, according to the lawsuit.
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Those named in the lawsuit are KDR AP, LLC; KDR Realty LLC; Axiom Property Management, LLC; and four other companies related to Axiom, according to the lawsuit.
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