Tenants of a once-regal apartment complex on North Charles Street and a management company hired by the city reached a tentative out-of-court agreement yesterday to repair collapsing ceilings, a broken elevator and to eliminate pools of water in the lobby.
The accord over the Queen Anne Belvedere Apartments was reached with the intercession of District Court Judge Norman E. Johnson Jr.
In the six weeks since the city foreclosed on the converted turn-of-the-century rowhouses, which stretch from 1204 to 1301 N. Charles St., the Rev. Steven Jeter, the president of the tenants' association, and other residents have complained that repairs are slow and sloppy.
But Larry Carson, the attorney for the management company, said it is doing its best.
"Since they took over, I really think they've been diligent about making repairs," Mr. Carson said. "There's a lot of work to do here."
Yesterday, Mr. Jeter took the cases of 10 tenants in the 68-unit apartment complex to District Court in an attempt to have their rents, which range from $450 to $600 a month, held in escrow until the work is done. Judge Johnson convinced both sides to meet outside the courtroom for 30 minutes so they could reach an agreement.
The management company agreed to fix all of the complex's 72-hour violations immediately and the 30-day violations by next month. Mr. Jeter agreed to meet with the tenants association Monday about dismissing the other 10 cases scheduled to be heard in District Court Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the city's Board of Estimates approved a $100,000 loan to repair the roof and scaffolding, paint, clean the carpets and replace windows. The contractor is QAB Management, a division of Monumental Management Inc.
But that didn't satisfy Mr. Jeter, the pastor of the House of Victory Church, and other tenants.
"We're very disappointed. We thought finally we had somebody who was going to solve our problems," said Mr. Jeter. Maintenance workers, he said, have left ceiling repairs half-finished and nails scattered in the hall.
The city helped to finance the redevelopment of the property in 1979, when the area was in the midst of a much-heralded transformation from a tawdry block of massage parlors and pornographic bookstores to attractive garden-style apartments.
The city foreclosed on the six buildings in October, after the owner, Queen Anne-Belvedere Association, defaulted on a $500,000 mortgage. The city also had guaranteed a $1.5 million mortgage that is in default to Monumental Life Insurance Co., Loyola Federal Savings & Loan Association and Signet Bank/Maryland.