Decision on eviction effort at Lansing hotel delayed

LANSING - An Ingham County Circuit Court judge's restraining order preventing a south Lansing hotel owner from evicting nearly 100 homeless residents will remain in effect until a hearing that began Tuesday resumes at a later date.

Judge James Jamo issued the restraining order earlier this month after the city of Lansing filed an emergency complaint asking the court for an injunction prohibiting the eviction of 99 people housed at the Magnuson Hotel for up to 120 days. The number of residents has fluctuated in recent weeks, and the city listed 91 people as living there earlier this month.

Court officials said Tuesday they aren't sure when the hearing will resume. Both sides are being given time to file additional written material.

Joan Jackson Johnson, the city's human relations and community services director, said the delay will buy local officials some time.

"Two to three weeks," she said. "We'll put the pedal to the medal. This is going to help significantly."

Hotel owner Alvin Peh late last month announced he was closing the hotel for "renovations," and gave residents less than two weeks to leave. Efforts by the State Journal to reach Peh in recent months have been unsuccessful.

Joanne Gurly, Peh's attorney, said keeping the hotel's doors open has become a financial burden, in part, because of more than $51,000 in unpaid water and sewer charges owed to Lansing's Board of Water & Light, the fault of a broken meter at the property discovered in May.

"The city has been aware of the homeless population in Lansing," Gurly told Jamo. "My client didn't create this problem. He has tried to assist the city but now it's time for the city of Lansing to take its head out of the sand and assist these people."

The hotel faces financial issues, in addition to the BWL charges. Peh, a resident of Singapore, owes the county more than $110,000 in delinquent property taxes by March 2017.

Gurly told Jamo Peh is currently paying $13,000 a month to BWL and owes a $38,000 back payment to the company by the end of this month.

City officials and area agencies have been working for weeks to delay the closure and develop a plan to find other housing for people receiving shelter at the hotel through The Homeless Angels, a nonprofit that rents rooms at the Magnuson for people who are homeless.

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero declared a "housing emergency" late last month, just one day after the Magnuson's management informed people staying there that the hotel would close "for renovations" by Sept. 12.

Homeless Angels founder Mike Karl and Johnson both testified during Tuesday's hearing.

Karl said despite the sudden closure notice he's grateful for the hotel.

"It's helped a lot of people," he said.

Johnson said nearly 20 people, among them three families, should be placed in alternative housing within the next week, but it could take 90 to 120 days to find housing for everyone currently at the hotel.

Many people need help obtaining social security cards and birth certificates, she said. Still others lack any household items.

"We have to do everything," Johnson said. "We're starting from zero."

This is the third time in as many years the city has declared a housing emergency. In November the city stepped in to help relocate tenants at the Hampton Park Apartments on Beechfield Drive, just south of Miller Road. City officials said initial costs were about $20,000, although it's not clear what the final tally was.

In 2014, more than 100 residents living at the Life O'Riley Mobile Home Park were forced to move out after health officials condemned it for health code violations. The costs for the city exceeded $500,000.

Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at (517) 528-2075 or rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ.