A bankruptcy hearing for the owners of the vacated Latitude Five25 apartments on the Near East Side has been continued until May 23 so the owners can finalize a deal with the tenants who were forced to leave the apartments on Christmas Day.
The continuance, filed by the Columbus City Attorney’s office, gives Paxe Latitude LP of Lakewood, N.J., more time to show that they have money to help residents, said Graham Bowman, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society of Columbus, The hearing was to have been Wednesday.
“Essentially, we have retained our own pro bono bankruptcy counsel in New Jersey trying to hammer out a settlement with Paxe Latitude to create a fund for the residents,” Bowman said, to compensate them for what they have endured for four months.
“The misery they’ve been through, the property that has been destroyed, the impact that has had on people, their mental and physical health,” Bowman said.
“People are on the verge of really spiraling and struggling. We need the money as soon as possible,” said Bowman who said he was cautiously optimistic a settlement can be reached.
Pete Shipley, spokesman for Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein, said in a