Cleveland tenants force sale after landlord neglect
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In Cleveland, Ohio, tenants living in Shaker Square apartments organized against their landlord, Shaker Heights Apartments Owner LLC (SHAO), after the company allowed buildings to fall into disrepair following a 2022 acquisition.
SHAO purchased three apartment buildings with roughly 80 percent of the units needing upgrades, but completed little rehabilitation. Tenants reported issues like lack of heat, broken elevators, and structural damage, leading them to work with the Morelands Group, a local neighborhood organization, and eventually, the Cleveland Housing Court.
They put their rent in escrow to compel repairs, but SHAO responded with legal delays and appeals, allowing the buildings to deteriorate further. The city of Cleveland cited the owners for over 300 violations and filed a public nuisance case. Despite these efforts, many tenants were displaced during the two-and-a-half-year legal battle. Ultimately, Metropolitan Commercial Bank, the lender, intervened and forced a sale to Alba Construction of New York in September 2025.
The new owner committed to a multimillion-dollar rehabilitation, and the city recovered its legal costs, back taxes, and outstanding liens. The Morelands Group highlighted the importance of collaboration between tenants, community groups, city officials, and the courts in achieving this outcome, while also noting the need for faster legal processes and increased capacity to identify and address extractive ownership practices.
