MEMPHIS, Tenn — After a legal proceeding where the city of Memphis' lawyers honed in on the deterioration of the structural integrity of Peppertree Apartments, the federal court agreed to prohibit the complex from signing leases with new tenants for 120 days. This comes according to the city of Memphis' Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Sink.
As of now, Peppertree, run by Tesco Properties, is unable to accept new tenants due to the structural damage to the property. This includes multiple walkways that have collapsed and a leasing office that caught fire.
"There has been almost no change in the crime since the City and the District Attorney’s Office jointly filed a nuisance action in 2021," Sink said in a statement. "The residents at Peppertree deserve housing that is not plagued by crime and crumbling buildings."
The City of Memphis also withdrew its request to prohibit new leases after conferring with HUD "in the interests of keeping the tenants in affordable housing," according to Sink.
"The City will continue to be vigilant and fight for the safety and quality of living conditions for the people at Peppertree," Sink said.
In a motion filed on Aug. 18, the city of Memphis also asked that they be permitted to assist residents with relocation if tenants requested it.
Attorneys said in the filing: "The physical structure of Peppertree Apartments is literally deteriorating beneath the feet of its residents. It is bad enough that the residents of Peppertree Apartments are required to live in a complex rampant with crime, but they now also have to worry about the structural integrity of the buildings in which they live."
Last year, the apartments were cited by the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office as a public nuisance due to the high crime rate. A federal injunction temporarily banned management from signing new leases or renewing old ones then, but that was lifted in February 2022.
