Suit: Atlanta area housing site illegally evicted residents

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The owners of an Atlanta area housing site are illegally throwing out residents struggling to make ends meet amid the coronavirus pandemic and have failed to address roaches, bed bugs and other problems in those living accommodations, protesters and a lawsuit say. About two dozen former residents of the Efficiency Lodge in DeKalb County and others demonstrated Wednesday across from the suburban Atlanta complex. Yet the moratorium doesn’t apply to motels and hotels, and some owners have argued they fall in that category though their properties function as permanent housing, said Viraj Parmar, managing attorney of the Housing Court Assistance Center, a free legal clinic that helps residents in the Atlanta area fight evictions. DeKalb County officials found more than 300 code violations at the lodge in July 2018 and another 30 violations in January, county spokesman Quinn Hudson said in an email.