A VETERAN is on the brink of homelessness after his apartment was bought in a redevelopment deal that will see the owner double his rent.
Robert Finnegan has lived in a two-bedroom apartment with his roommate in Kingsport, Tennessee for over a decade.
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Despite his hopes to remain at his beloved home for the rest of his life, the 59-year-old and his two cats Stinky and Monster have been instructed to leave by October 1.
Finnegan told News Channel 11 that for the past 12 years, he has always paid his rent on time and has no blemish on his record as a tenant.
However, last September, Kingsport Portfolio LLC based in New York, purchased the 36-unit complex along with two adjacent ones.
The company purchased 106 apartments in total from Bob Monday who had owned the buildings for a long time.
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Kingsport Portfolio paid $5.4million for the buildings, according to the property deed.
The company also changed the name of the complex from "The Gardens" to "Legacy Apartments" and launched renovations on a number of units.
Finnegan explained that under Monday, he had not had a rent increase in years and that he and his roommate paid $500 per month in rent.
On July 26, Finnegan and a number of other tenants received a written notice explaining that they have 60 days to leave.
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It explained that they would have a "transfer option" to a "fully remodeled apartment, subject to application approval."
However, following the renovation, Finnegan's apartment will cost him $1,100 per month in rent, a 120 percent increase on what he currently pays.
The army veteran makes less than $1,000 per month from disability allowance and even if he split the rent it would cost too much.
He added that this income would most likely make him ineligible for the home.
Finnegan told the news outlet: “I am truly a responsible person and so are a lot of other people that live here.
“They include working families with children, some of whom have told him they’re having to move in with family members.”
“I have no one helping me pack, no one helping me move," he added.
“I’ve been here 12 years, there are others who’ve been here longer. They’re not taking into account our record here, we’re being treated as totally new tenants like if we just came off the street and applied.”
The concerned veteran is worried about becoming homeless and in a desperate bid for help he contacted Legal Aid of East Tennessee.
In an email to Finnegan on August 7, staff attorney Jack Inman said: "Unfortunately, there is little that we can do."
The email notes the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act in Sullivan Count which states that landlords can evict someone on a month-to-month agreement in just 30 days.
Inman told News Channel 11 that for "most landlords, 30 days is all you're going to get," and that the management's 60-day notice is actually quite generous.
He added that Tennessee's law is "more landlord-friendly than other states."
“It’s clear it’s unethical what they’re doing by many people’s standards, but if it’s legal, we have to operate within the bounds of the law as it’s currently written whether we like that law or not,” he said.
Finnegan explained that he was shocked at his lack of protection despite having lived there as a faithful tenant for over a decade.
Speaking of Kingsport Portfolio, which is primarily based in New York, Finnegan said: "If he was looking for a nice development … to do what he is doing, why wouldn’t he do it in New York.
“Why did he come all the way to Tennessee to do it?
"The reason why is because he knows that he can because tenants here have zero rights.
"We basically accept what they do and we have to gracefully bow out.”
Despite checking for listings every day, Finnegan is yet to find somewhere to go in October.
“It’s either too high in price, something that I can’t handle or it’s taken,” he said.
The veteran added that the most he could afford it $450 per month and after checking assisted housing he noted that the Section 8 waiting list is months or years long.
“I have no place to [go], and the thing is, if I am on the streets I will literally die,” he said, noting that he has had five heart attacks, bypass surgery, and a pacemaker.
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“I’m not trying to be dramatic or anything, it’s just that I have always had a home. I am not used to being on the streets.”
The U.S. Sun has contacted the LAET and the Kingsport Housing & Redevelopment Authority for comment.
