LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. — A Lexington County apartment complex, Westwood Estates, is in foreclosure after failing to repay its real estate company in time.
According to court documents, Westwood Estates is facing foreclosure after allegedly breaching a loan agreement with 100 Riverbend, a real estate company. The complex reportedly borrowed over $24 million in 2021 and has failed to meet its repayment obligations.
Now, Riverbend is seeking to sell Westwood Estates through a foreclosure auction to recover the funds due in June of this year.
Mark Fessler, the deputy director for ligation and training with S.C. Appleseed Legal Services, said the real estate company has the right to reach this conclusion.
“Practically speaking, you have to refinance the loan or get an extension from the lender, which the lender is not obligated to give, or you’d have to sell the property to someone else and use the proceeds from the sale to pay off the matured loan," he said.
However, as this legal battle progresses, tenants have expressed concern about the ongoing conditions at Westwood Estates.
Resident Quindara Williams, who has lived at Westwood Estates since 2020, said she has faced numerous issues. She said she's had squirrels in her apartment, had to transfer to another building, and paid for repairs out of her pocket after maintenance crews did not complete their jobs.
"I have a two-year-old that is on a nebulizer because of the mold issue because of the water damage in July of last year that I paid for someone out of pocket for half the work they did not finish," Williams said.
Another resident, Timothy Bridges, who has lived there for over two years, says he has also experienced issues that inconvenienced him.
“It's one time I had to go to Planet Fitness to take shower because our water was cut off for so long,” Bridges said.
“It took them almost two years to a fix plumbing problem, and it was horrific," resident James Lewis said. "It was really horrific. I have holes in my bathroom walls and roaches are coming in. It's really gross in there."
Fessler said tenants are entitled to information regarding their living conditions and that Westwood Estates is responsible for informing tenants about issues and addressing them.
"If the landlord doesn’t do that, the tenant remedy is to go to the Magistrate's Court and file a lawsuit with the Magistrates asking the landlord to order them to make the repair,” Fessler said.
Westwood Estates declined to provide comment for this story.
News19 also contacted an attorney representing 100 Riverbend, who said they are in the early stages of this case.