CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) – Three weeks after a tree fell on Vista Commons Apartments in East Charlotte, killing a man, residents whose apartments remained intact have still not been able to find new homes.
“I was at home. I was laying in my bed,” recalled Jermaine Goodwin, who lived in the complex with his six-year-old son. “The apartment moved and my head hit the wall and the next thing I remember is I kind of fell over on my bed.”
On July 22, at around 1:50 a.m., a large tree fell on the three-story residential building, killing a 60-year-old man.
Goodwin explained: “Everything went dark, everything went dark, and then I was just operating in the dark. I ran to the door because I heard screaming outside and my neighbor was screaming. She said, ‘Everyone get out of the house.'”
Goodwin was one of six units that a structural engineer deemed uninhabitable.
Since then, Vista Commons Apartments has informed Goodwin and the other homeless people that they would house them in other buildings in the complex.
Goodwin says the leasing office gave him the keys so he could look at an apartment and decide if he was OK with it, but when he returned to the office from the tour, he was told to call corporate headquarters.
“But corporate headquarters says, ‘No, we don’t have that in stock right now.’ And I say, ‘Yes, you do. I just got in.'”
As of Monday morning, two of the six units affected by the tree had still not been relocated. Instead, they had received a termination letter. One resident received an email from the owner saying he would have to “find somewhere else to live.”
WBTV also reached out to the property manager but received no response.
“Why aren’t you looking out for us? You know what I mean? Well, who does that? You know what I mean? Well, brother, a tree fell,” Goodwin said. “To be displaced and not by your own choice, well, I’m going through so many emotions right now.”
After WBTV began asking questions of city leaders, including Councilwoman Marjorie Molina, the City of Charlotte Housing and Neighborhood Services visited Vista Commons.
A city of Charlotte spokesperson said if the property manager is unable to relocate the final two residents by Friday, the city will offer relocation assistance through Community Link as a standard part of its housing process.
The Building Inspectorate has opened six case files and told WBTC it will monitor progress for the displaced residents in the coming days.
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