ATLANTA — Nearly three weeks after a massive fire swept through the Reserve at Lavista Walk Apartments, many residents say they are being told they cannot retrieve clothes, furniture, and other personal items.
That includes residents whose units were not damaged.
One resident, who didn’t wish to give her name, said she received an email stating she could collect items in her apartment on Wednesday.
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But when she arrived, she said apartment employees wouldn’t let her in.
“Went up there and ask them if we could go in there, and they said we couldn’t because some people have called lawyers and have tried to sue, or whatever is going on. My childhood photos, keepsakes from my grandparents and other stuff we can’t get back. They don’t know when they’re going to allow us to go back inside,” the resident told Channel 2′s Tom Regan.
Resident Taylor Hart has moved in with a friend in Macon.
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She said she was told she could move furnishings and other items from her place last week and rented a truck, but when she got to the apartment complex, employees handed her a document instead, saying she needed to sign it before they’d let her in.
“When we got there, we looked through this waiver and it was basically asking us to sign away all of our legal rights, including the right to sue the company. And we’re like, we’re not signing that. It was kind of like a bait-and-switch situation. I don’t know what our legal rights have to do with getting our own stuff,” Hart told Channel 2 Action News.
Lawyers for some residents said they are filing a negligence suit against the management company alleging the complex lacked adequate fire suppression systems.
The fire forced hundreds of residents out of their homes.
Police arrested two residents in connection with the fire, which is believed to have been started by fireworks shot onto the roof of a building. Channel 2 Action News left a message with the management office for a comment but has not yet received a statement.
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