Cedar Glen Apartments reach settlement

SOUTH BEND, Ind. --It’s being called a historic day for tenants' rights across Indiana.

Cedar Glen residents have reached a settlement with the complex, after some spent the last two winters without heat and hot water on and off.

ABC57 first reported the lack of hot water in February 2023.

Tuesday, for the first time residents say things are finally seeming to take a step in the right direction, but their work is not done yet.

The South Bend Tenants Association and the Portage Township Trustee, Jason Critchlow got involved in February 2024.

After investigating, they threatened to take legal action if the complex did not agree to four conditions including:

• Provide restitution to affected residents

• Provide restitution to the Township

• Permit the formation of a tenant’s association

• Agree to a compliance period

Tuesday morning, they held a press conference to announce they had reached an agreement who h granted $10,600 dollars in rental credits to those impacted.

Which only came to about $192 dollars per impacted resident.

However, they said this is more about accountability than the restitutions and they hope this action will be a wake up call for other local complexes experiencing similar problems.

“We wanted to have some sort of community wide impact we wanted to show that this is possible we know there are other problematic apartment complexes, problematic landlords within the city that we are taking notice that there are measures of accountability that can be taken,” said Jason Critchlow.

The South Bend Tenant association will hold a news conference September 16 as it works with tenants to decide their next steps.