ND Eviction Clinic exposes 'shameful' living conditions at Hoffman Hotel Apartments

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The Hoffman Hotel Apartments were meant to be artist housing in the heart of downtown South Bend, but a tip from an anonymous tenant spurred an investigation by the Notre Dame Law School Eviction Clinic, and a 57-page press release with photos, that shows just how bad conditions are inside.

David Pruitt, director of the Eviction Clinic, explained why he and his student interns are drawing public attention to the Hoffman Hotel.

"Clearly, conditions locally have been in the news with Karl King [Tower]... frankly, it sounded a little bit like deja vu all over again here with these particular conditions. And so, while the scale of it is different, it's just another example of landlords frankly not really doing what they're supposed to under the law," Pruitt said. "We think here that we can do better."

The hope is to spur action, he said, whether by property managers or local government, through increased awareness of the problems.

"We want everybody to consider, 'are we doing enough here? Is this what we want out of our landlords, and what we expect out of our landlords, who also receive government money to put on this type of project?'" Pruitt said.

The Hoffman Hotel has roughly 50 units and some, if not all, are government subsidized.

Certified Legal Interns Colton Barta and Andrew Coffey told ABC57 about their on-site visit and investigation that started with an anonymous tenant tip.

"We were shocked, we were horrified. We thought about Karl King. We thought about the conditions we allow our community to endure," Barta said. "There was a feeling of, for lack of a better word, rage. And the idea that like this is shameful. How can anybody be okay with this and what's going on right now? This needs to be addressed, this needs to be shown to as many people as can care to look at it. Thinking about the people there, again, we have veterans, disabled people, lots of people on fixed income, families. No one should be okay with this."

Barta and Coffey described major mold and structural issues throughout the building, plus filthy community spaces and evidence of drug use. It seemed evident that people who are not tenants are getting into the building.

"We saw makeshift cots in the stairwells that were filthy," Coffey said.

ABC57's Annie Kate unsuccessfully tried to reach out to who runs the Hoffman Hotel but could not find a proper contact. The number posted online and on the side of the building is out of service.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the City of South Bend responded to ABC57's interview request with a statement: "The City has received complaints through 311 regarding the Hoffman Hotel, and RSVP has scheduled inspections when tenants have reached out. Property Management has changed twice in the last year and has been non-responsive to our efforts to gain compliance. We have been invoicing five separate units weekly for more than six months, and in February, we sent about $25,000 in fees and fines to collections."

However, for the Notre Dame Law School Eviction Clinic, this property was bad enough to spur a public callout for more to be done.

"Ultimately, I think it's going to come down to people considering who they vote for as far as their elected officials. Is this a priority for the people who are in elected office to say, 'enough is enough?'" Pruitt said.

Pruitt also said they may take legal action in the future, but it's not clear yet what that may look like. He said they are interested in partnering with the city or possibly reaching out to the Indiana Attorney General's Office.

ABC57 understands many residents are afraid to speak out publicly about their living conditions, but they are still invited to email Annie Kate at [email protected].

The full report from the Notre Dame Law School Eviction Clinic can be viewed here: