This coverage is made possible through a partnership between BPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
A tenant rights activist’s car mysteriously burned last weekend as she met with residents living in an apartment complex in Asheville.
Jen Hampton, a lead organizer with the Asheville Area Tenants’ Union, was visiting the Evergreen Ridge Apartments on Riceville Road. She’s been working with residents since August and says many are concerned about alleged mold issues in their homes. AATU is one of six chapters of the North Carolina Tenants’ Union, a statewide group that organizes renters and advocates for housing as a human right.
Hampton told BPR that during a previous visit at Evergreen Ridge, canvassers had accidentally knocked on a maintenance worker’s door, leading to a tense confrontation. On another visit, the employee took pictures of advocates’ vehicle license plates.
On Saturday afternoon, Oct. 11, Hampton and her colleagues were finishing visits with tenants when she walked out to find the burnt remains of her car.
“We came back out at 1 (p.m.) after having really great conversations with people,” Hampton said. “Walked out and saw my car had been completely destroyed. Like just melted. Everything. The engine block just was melted.”
“I want to be clear, we are not blaming them for this,” Hampton said of the apartment complex’s owners and employees. However, she said, it made organizers and tenants eager for reassurance from Evergreen Ridge Apartments that they are safe while advocating for better conditions.
“Residents do fear retaliation for organizing because they've had problems with that in the past. So, given this situation, we are just wanting the residents to feel safe still organizing.”
North Carolina Tenant’s Union is asking the complex’s owner, Shadow Ridge Associates, to sign a legally binding agreement to that effect, and NCTU has also released a petition seeking support for the agreement.
The Asheville Fire Department confirmed to BPR that officials are investigating the incident.
BPR reached out to Evergreen Ridge Apartments and its parent company, Shadow Ridge Associates, asking for a response to the incident and to tenants’ request for reassurance that they won’t be retaliated against, but neither responded as of publication time.
Hampton’s 2013 Ford Economy Explorer was parked on the company’s property when it was destroyed by fire.
Tenant Rachel Wyse had been a part of a small group of tenants inviting Hampton and other tenants’ union organizers into the building to canvass — knocking doors in the building and talking to other tenants about their concerns in hopes of organizing more broadly around repairs and other issues. The organizers were guests of the group, Wise said, and had not been informed they were violating any apartment rules or trespassing.
“After the car incident, there does feel like more of a culture of fear here,” she told BPR. “There are rumors going around that they're just going to sell the apartment complex and kick everybody out if we organize.”
Tenants have told Hampton that mold in the complex has gotten worse since Helene, and suspect it has been making them sick. However, Wyse said, few residents have filed code enforcement or tenant complaints with the city, in part because it’s an arduous process and mold is not explicitly actionable under the city’s minimum housing code. Hampton said Helene also made tenants feel less secure in finding new housing - as the natural disaster destroyed an immense amount of regional housing stock.
BPR filed a public records request with the City of Asheville asking for the previous year’s worth of minimum housing code-related complaints concerning the habitability of apartments at Evergreen Ridge, specifically related to causes of mold such as a leaking roof, water damaged walls, or some other source of excess moisture. BPR received confirmation the city is working on the request but has not heard back as of publication.
