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Plaintiff,
-vs-
CHC Colony Apartments, LLC; CHC SUMMONS
Colony Apartments LIHTC MM, LLC;
Monroe Group, Ltd; Steele Properties,
LLC; and, Community Housing
Concepts, Inc.
Defendants.
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STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
Plaintiff,
-vs- COMPLAINT
CHC Colony Apartments, LLC; CHC (Quantum Meruit)
Colony Apartments LIHTC MM, LLC;
Monroe Group, Ltd; Steele Properties, (Injunctive Relief)
LLC; and, Community Housing
Concepts, Inc.
Defendants.
omissions of the Defendants, individually and together, would aver, allege, claim, state and argue
organized and existing under the Laws and the Constitution of the State of South Carolina,
having been duly incorporated and existing by act of the South Carolina General Assembly
residential property located on Beltline Boulevard in the city limits of Columbia, South
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3. The Defendant, CHC Colony Apartments, LLC, hereinafter referred to as “TITLE
OWNER” is a limited liability company organized and existing under the laws of the State
of South Carolina and is the title owner of the Colony. CHC Colony Apartments, LLC has
an address of 6875 E. Evans Street, Denver, Colorado 80224 and may be found for
4. The Defendant, CHC Colony Apartments LIHTC MM, LLC, hereinafter referred to as
“CHC LIHTC”, is a limited liability company organized and existing under the laws of
the State of Colorado. CHC LIHTC has an address of 6875 E. Evans Street, Denver,
Colorado 80224 and may be found for purposes of service of process through its registered
5. Upon information and belief, CHC LIHTC operates the financial affairs of the TITLE
OWNER.
entity organized and existing under the laws of the State of Colorado. MONROE has an
address of 6875 E. Evans Street, Denver, Colorado 80224 and may be found for purposes
7. Monroe states on its website it is a property management partner of Steele Properties and
liability company organized and existing under the Laws of the State of Colorado. STEELE
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has an address of 6875 E. Evans Street, Denver, Colorado 80224 and may be found for
9. Upon information and belief, the Owners, Operators, Directors and Key Principals of
STEELE own, operate, direct and manage other limited liability corporations organized
and existing under the laws of the State of Colorado with the address of 6875 E. Evans
Street, Denver, Colorado 80224 and which may be found for service of process at that same
address. Those limited liability companies are known as: STEELE PROPERTIES
LLC; STEELE PROPERTIES II, LLC; STEELE PROPERTIES III, LLC; STEELE
10. STEELE describes itself as a national real estate investment company and lists the Colony
11. The Defendant, Community Housing Concepts, Inc., hereinafter referred to as “NON-
PROFIT”, is a non-profit corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State
80224 and may be found for purposes of service of process through its registered agent:
Carolina 29169.
12. Upon information and belief, the organizers, incorporators, creators, directors, and key
other non-profit corporations under the laws of the State of Colorado for the same uses and
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purposes of the Defendant NON-PROFIT. Those non-profit corporations are known as:
13. The Non-Profit, upon information and belief, was created by STEELE, and or MONROE
14. That the majority of all of the acts, omissions and events described in this Complaint
occurred or arose within the jurisdictional limits of the City of Columba, County of
15. That, for all purposes of jurisdiction and venue, the principal place of business for the
Defendants is the COLONY Apartments located within Richland County, South Carolina.
16. The City is a real party in interest to this litigation with a real, material, and substantial
17. This Honorable Court has jurisdiction over the parties and subject matter of this action
Article 7 of Title 15 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina, (1976, as amended), and
pursuant to the entirety of the Constitutional, Statutory, Procedural and Common Law of
FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
18. Each and every allegation contained in the paragraphs above is hereby realleged herein as
19. COLONY is a large apartment community within the City Limits of the City of Columbia
and subject to the rules, regulations and ordinances of the City of Columbia. As such, the
owners are required to have a business license as a landlord and they are required to obtain
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Residential Rental Permits from the Code Enforcement Division. In addition, the
20. As a term or condition of a residential rental permit in the City of Columbia, a landlord or
owner must name a responsible local representative who resides or has an office within a
21. On or about the beginning of December, 2022, a leak occurred in the water supply lines
which provided fresh water to the Colony, not only hydration and hygiene but also for the
heating system for the units in the apartments which were steam based.
22. The infrastructure at the Colony Apartments is several decades old and the rupture was not
necessarily a cause for the City’s concern. However, beginning the evening of December
23, 2022, the Columbia metropolitan area experienced unusually cold temperatures for this
region. Due, in part, to the unusually cold temperatures, the leaks in the pipes increased to
approximately 230 gallons per minute, or over 300,000 gallons of water per day.
23. However, at the Colony Apartments, the dramatic water pressure decrease caused by the
leaks severely compromised the steam heating system for the tenants apartments. For
approximately 300 units, occupied by several hundred tenants, this meant Christmas Eve
and Christmas Day without water or heat on one of the coldest days on record in the
24. Beginning on or about the morning of December 27, 2022, tenants of the Colony
Apartments reached out to their elected representatives and City officials for assistance
with the unfolding crisis. The City Manager dispatched the City’s supervisory staff from
1. 1
While it is to be expected a weather event would cause problems for the City’s water customers, the
present action is not about the weather event and its effects, but, rather, the lack of response to the effects of
the weather event.
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Columbia Water to assess the situation and confirm the leaks were leaving the tenants
without water or heat. Furthermore, engineers from the City of Columbia were
increasingly concerned because the situation was not being addressed by the staff of the
Colony. Our Director of Utility Operations concluded that the leaks were spilling
approximately 232 gallons per minute, (334,300 gallons per day). The Columbia Police
Department Code Enforcement Bureau was contacted and was engaged in determining any
25. While on the scene, City employees witnessed the critical situation of the residents of the
Colony. Of particular concern were the tenants with young children and the elderly tenants
of the Colony Apartments. Stories like this one caught the immediate attention and concern
of the Mayor, City Council, the City Manager and the City Staff.
26. As an added complicating factor for City Officials, the leaks detected were not in the city’s
infrastructure of the water system; they were leaks in the infrastructure owned and
maintained by the Colony Apartments. If this had been a failure of the City’s infrastructure,
Columbia Water would have immediately dispatched repair crews and resolved the
situation.
27. Columbia Code Enforcement Officers received a complaint the morning of December 27,
2022 that there were water mains which had burst with large water leaks. Upon arrival,
Code Enforcement Officers found the leaks and met with onsite maintenance. Together
they began going door-to-door to check the units. Some had no water and the others had
low water pressure. None of the units accessed at that time had heat.
28. Also the morning of December 27, 2022, a tenant of the Colony Apartments called the
Columbia Fire Chief about the situation at the Colony Apartments. A relative of a tenant
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also called the Fire Marshall on December 27, 2022. The Columbia Fire Department,
together with the Fire Marshall’s office, responded on the scene immediately. Deputy Fire
Marshalls were called onto the scene to investigate and inspect the units.
29. The Code Enforcement Officers and Fire Marshalls saw that many of the tenants were
desperately trying to heat their homes with the gas ovens and stoves in their kitchens.
30. The Defendants’ responsible local representative was unresponsive to the situation. She
would not cooperate, she misled City Officials, she failed to take any remedial measures,
and she did not communicate with the tenants about the situation.
31. While at the site, tenants talked to various members of City Staff and told their tragic
stories. The consistent theme was the tenants had reported the problems to the responsible
local representative of management, they had received very little assistance and inadequate
answers, if any. This was consistent with our staffs’ experience with the onsite employees
of the Colony. The apartment management on site did not have a list of tenants, they did
not know which apartments were affected, which apartments were vacant, and they
indicated they did not know who to call with authority. The Colony’s onsite maintenance
team were ill-prepared and ill-equipped to handle the situation. As Code Enforcement
attempted to make entry into units after knocking to ensure safety, the maintenance staff
could not provide keys for all of the units. This slowed down the process tremendously.
32. The onsite manager of the COLONY informed City officials that she worked for the
33. At 11:26 a.m. on December 27, 2022, the Columbia Water Director of Utility Operations
called Colony Apartments phone number and got a generic phone message. At 11:28 a.m.,
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he called an alternate number for the Colony Apartments and got a voice mail
announcement, but the mailbox was full. At 11:30 a.m., the Director of Utility Operations
called a local number on the Monroe Group website and again received a voice mail. This
time he was able to leave a message. The Director of Utility Operations identified himself
and left a clear message about an “emergency water leak” and left a number at which he
could be reached. He followed that up with an email to the address on the Monroe Group
website.
34. Two hours later, the Director of Utility Operations received a call from a man named
Anthony McLain who wanted to know if the leak was with the City’s pipes or the Colony
Apartments. Mr. McLean was informed that the leaks were the Monroe Group’s pipes.
35. Mr. McLain stated that he had been trying to get a plumber out “since Friday” (12/23/2022)
but could not get anyone. The City’s Director of Utility Operations stressed to Mr. McLean
the urgency of the situation to the tenants, told him the tenants were reaching out to City
Leaders for help and urged him to get the repairs completed at the earliest opportunity.
36. By mid-afternoon, having heard nothing about the response to our urgent request, the
Director of Utility Operations called Mr. McLain back and left a message on his voice mail
37. The officials of the City Fire Marshall, the Code Enforcement Bureau of the Columbia
Police Department, the engineers from the water system, and the tenants of the COLONY
heard nothing more regarding any plan by the management of the complex for the
remainder of the day regarding the massive water leaks. Due to the danger facing the
tenants, the decision was made to evacuate the Colony due to the unsafe conditions at the
complex.
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38. The next day, at 8:08 a.m. on Wednesday, December 28, 2022, the City’s Director of Utility
Operations called the same phone number again and left another message stating the City
had made an emergency decision to repair the leaks with taxpayer resources and that the
39. Mr. McLain called back six (6) minutes later to agree. The Director of Utility Operations
related to Mr. McLain again the City had determined the massive, continuous water leak
was a public health emergency. Because the Monroe Group had made no repairs, and
appeared to have no plan to do so, the City was going to proceed with the water line repairs
at the earliest opportunity. Mr. McLain was informed what the estimated cost of repair
would be and he agreed with our course of action. Mr. McLean also provided a phone
number to use to contact him. This conversation was documented in an email sent to the
40. Early on the afternoon of December 28, 2022, the City arranged to have Carolina Tap and
Bore completed repairs quickly and efficiently at 4501 Bailey Drive, 4902 Bailey Drive
and 6000 Bailey Drive. The water pressure was able to normalize and the system was able
to function. Carolina Tap and Bore is a vendor of the Columbia Water and was paid on a
41. Although, the Monroe Group was unable to respond for four (4) days for a serious water
leakage of more than 300,000 gallons of water a day, the City and its private vendor
repaired the leaks and stabilized both the water and the heating system in a matter of
42. Beginning on December 28, 2022, the President and General Counsel of the Monroe Group
began communicating with the City. They agreed to arrange for Monroe Group employees
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from other regions to travel to Columbia and participate directly in the response and
43. On December 29, 2022, Monroe Group staff from other regions or states arrived on scene
to take over onsite coverage of the issue on behalf of the company. The situation stabilized,
and the inspections of the residential rental units proceeded more efficiently.
44. The results of the search was shocking. The condition of many of the apartments were
very poor and endangering the health and safety of the residents, especially the infants,
small children, elderly and disabled occupants. While the immediate concern was the lack
of water and heat, it soon became apparent that the continuing threat to the safety of the
residents were the numerous natural gas leaks. The gas appliances in the units and the
supply lines were poorly maintained. To make matters worse, many of the units were
45. The Colony Apartments have more than 300 units in 80 separate buildings. In twenty (20)
of the buildings the gas had to be shut off completely by Dominion Energy because of the
46. Between December 29, 2022 and January 20, 2023, the Fire Marshalls had completed a
tremendous amount of work inspecting the units. They conducted 330 inspections. There
were ninety-two (92) apartments with deficiencies, and of those sixty-three (63) had
deficiencies which could not be occupied until the deficiencies were abated.
47. Code Enforcement began their inspections on December 27, 2022, but that inspection
process was interrupted by a murder which occurred on the site. The Columbia Police
Department responded to the shots fired call and cleared the property of other city staff.
The Code Enforcement officials received a call from Chief Holbrook several hours later to
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come back out to the scene to renew their efforts to assess and document the water and heat
crisis. The initial goal was to find out which apartments had heat and water, working in
coordination with officials of the Columbia Fire Department. After the decision was made
to evacuate, the city staff had to go back and inform the residents. Although the Colony
maintenance staff were present to help code enforcement gain access to each of the units,
they did not have keys for all of the units, which caused many units to be inaccessible.
Access to the units took a dangerously long time because of the lack of access.
48. Throughout the course of this event, the Code Enforcement Officers conducted more than
four hundred (444) inspections and re-inspections of individual units due to one hundred
forty-four (144) units being found in violation with the International Property Maintenance
Code.
49. Pursuant to §5-339c of the Code of Ordinance for the City of Columbia multiple
inspections of a rental unit to gain compliance will add $50.00 to the rental permit fee.
There were more than 444 inspections as a result of this event. In addition, points were
50. All of the City Staff observed tenants using gas appliances to heat their units, a dangerous
situation in any sense. But the unusually cold temperatures, the lack of adequate heat, and
the gas leaks attendant to the gas appliances were a serious and deadly combination. The
Mayor and the City Manager had joined the city staff on site and witnessed firsthand the
situation. The lack of response to the water/heat emergency together with the gas leaks
could not be ignored and so at this point the Mayor, City Manager, Fire Chief and Police
Chief jointly decided that the danger to the tenants was too great and the Colony
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51. Carolina Tap & Bore, Inc. is a local contractor who provides full service utility work and
often partners with the City of Columbia through Columbia Water. Because of this
ongoing relationship, Carolina Tap & Bore, Inc. (CT&B) works on a purchase order with
the Columbia Water System on an already approved contract. CT&B arrived at the Colony
Apartments on December 28, 2022 and found the three leaks in the pipes belonging to the
building. They were uncovered, repaired, tested and reburied. The concrete and
landscaping was remediated to a similar condition. The amount of the repairs equaled
twenty-six thousand six hundred seventeen dollars and fifty cents ($26,617.50).
52. CHC Colony Apartments, LLC has tendered reimbursement to the City for the expenses
of Carolina Tap & Bore, Inc. on April 11, 2023 ($26,617.50), more than one hundred days
53. The City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Department supplied two buses and a driver
to help relocate the tenants of the Colony Apartments to safety on the evening of December
27, 2022. The rental for the bus equals the sum of Three Hundred Ninety-Four and 62/100
($394.62) Dollars.
54. The massive undertaking by the City and its various departments was coordinated through
the use of a mobile command center from the Columbia Police Department. The standard
usage fee for the Mobile Command Bus equals the sum of Nine Hundred Seventy-One and
55. At least twenty (20) fire personnel dispatched to this event. Based upon the time records
for the City, payroll costs borne by the taxpayers through the Columbia/Richland Fire
Department for its excess personnel costs would equal the sum of Twenty Thousand Eight
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56. During the event, fourteen (14) Code Enforcement Officers of the Code Enforcement
Division of the Columbia Police Department participated at different times for several days
working on this ongoing event. We believe a minimum sum that would compensate the
taxpayers through the Columbia Police Department for its excess personnel costs by its
57. The Columbia Police Department provided security and assistance to the tenants and the
property during this event. Based upon the time records for the City, payroll costs borne
by the taxpayers through the Columbia Police Department for its excess personnel costs
for uniformed officers providing security and organizing the evacuation would be equal to
the sum of Thirteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Eight and No/100 ($13,908.00) Dollars.
58. Parks and Recreation assisted in transporting the tenants to hotels as a result of the
emergency evacuation. We believe that a minimum sum that would compensate the
taxpayers through the Columbia Parks and Recreation Department for its excess personnel
costs for facilitating the evacuation of the Colony Apartments would be $77.00.
59. Meals for the residents of the Colony Apartments equal the sum of $1,645.05.
61. The CITY undertook to confer benefits on the COLONY during a period of a weather event
which caused a substantial health and safety event on that property. The benefit being the
protection of the health and wellbeing of their tenants due to the conditions of the
apartments.
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62. The Defendants realized the benefit of the efforts and actions taken by the CITY to stabilize
63. The Defendants have retained the benefit under conditions which make it unjust for the
64. The value of the benefit conferred upon the Defendants is equal to the sum of the following:
a. The rental for the City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Department buses equals
the sum of Three Hundred Ninety-Four and 62/100 ($394.62) Dollars.
b. The standard usage fee for the Columbia Police Department Mobile Command Bus
equals the sum of Nine Hundred Seventy-One and 43/100 ($971.43) Dollars.
c. Columbia/Richland Fire Department excess personnel costs equal the sum of
Twenty Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighteen ($20,818.00) Dollars.
d. Columbia Police Department for its excess personnel costs by its Code
Enforcement division is equal to the sum of Fourteen Thousand, Three Hundred
and Fifteen and No/100 ($14,315.00) Dollars.
e. Columbia Police Department for its excess personnel costs for uniformed officers
providing security and organizing the evacuation would be equal to the sum of
Thirteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Eight and No/100 ($13,908.00) Dollars.
f. Columbia Parks and Recreation Department for its excess personnel costs for
facilitating the evacuation of the Colony Apartments would be Seventy-Seven and
No/100 ($77.00) Dollars.
g. Meals for the residents of the Colony Apartments equal the sum of one Thousand,
Six Hundred and Forty-Five and 5/100 ($1,645.05) Dollars.
65. Based upon the foregoing, the CITY is informed and believes that this Honorable Court
should inquire into the facts and circumstances of this matter and enter a judgment in favor
of the CITY and against the Defendants for the amount of Fifty-Two Thousand One
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66. Each and every allegation contained in the paragraphs above is hereby realleged herein as
67. Upon information and belief, the Colony was purchased by the Defendants, or a
combination of them, in 2016 as an investment property for low income housing through
the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program of the United States Department of Housing
68. That the Defendants, as alter egos each of the other, have mismanaged the COLONY and
allowed the property to fall below the minimum standards required by the applicable Code
of Ordinances of the City of Columbia including, but not limited to, the International
Property Maintenance Code, the International Fire Code, the Residential Rental Properties
69. That, upon information and belief, the corporate structure of Steele Properties, Community
Housing Concepts, Inc. CHC Colony Apartments, LLC, and CHC Colony Apartments
70. Further, the failure of the responsible local representative has limited the City’s ability to
communicate with the owner or landlord to address immediate concerns, which is the
71. Given the history of violations and inattention to the conditions of the property, the City is
informed and believes that the Defendants should be permanently ordered, enjoined, and
required to maintain the Colony to the standards set by all applicable ordinances, statutes,
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Now therefore, based upon the foregoing, the City of Columbia prays that this Honorable Court
inquire into the facts and circumstances of this matter and issue an order granting the following
relief:
a. Judgment against the Defendants, jointly and severally, in the amount of the total
c. For such other and further relief as this Court may determine to be just and proper.
Respectfully submitted,
CITY OF COLUMBIA
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