West St. Paul officials say the nondescript brick apartments at 1492 Charlton St. bring trouble to the neighborhood. Residents call police far too often, they say, draining city resources — and the landlord doesn't care.
But resident Penny Pinkerton says that's not true. She calls the place home and doesn't want to leave.
West St. Paul may force her to do just that. The city yanked the rental license of her 30-unit building on Sept. 25, ordering the tenants to move by July 1.
"I'm furious," Pinkerton said. "I've built a life in this area, and now I have to disrupt it."
City officials say they revoked the license — a rare move — because the landlord hasn't improved conditions despite repeated warnings.
"Revoking a rental license is not a process we take lightly," said Jim Hartshorn, West St. Paul's community development director. "It's an option that we have for ongoing problem properties [whose owners] refuse to listen to us."
But many tenants say the city's claims of a chaotic building are unfounded and the revocation is a draconian step, punishing everyone living there. Local faith leaders and county officials said the city's actions threaten to make tenants — many low-income or disabled — homeless in a tight housing market that is especially short on affordable housing.
"When I got wind of this situation, my heart just bled," said Oliver White, a pastor at Clark-Grace United Church of Christ in South St. Paul. "I mean, where will these people go? Where will they get the money?"