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Tenants holding back rent over poor living conditions facing eviction

447 Thurston Road
Alex Crichton
447 Thurston Road

A group of tenants who say they live in poor conditions and their landlord isn't addressing the problem, had a date in court today.

21 tenants of properties owned by Peter Hungerford and associates are facing eviction notices for failure to pay rent.

Member of the City Wide Tenant Union of Rochester, Ryan Acuff, says a rally was held in support of the tenants, and to call on the city to make reforms to the way they do code enforcement so people can live in safe, habitable conditions.

"We want the evictions withdrawn and nobody be forced out, and we want the repairs to be made. But in addition, so stuff doesn't get this far in the future, we'd like the city to change its policies," he said.

Acuff says their group would also like the City to enact some reforms to prevent what they are calling retaliatory evictions.

"Cite the underlying issue, instead of enforcing just band aid repairs.  The second major reform is, like in certain cities, the landlord has to make all the repairs and close all the code violations before they can try to take a tenant to court," he said.

The tenants have joined the City of Rochester in filing a lawsuit against Peter Hungerford's Thurston Road Realty over outstanding violations the suit says present a health and safety hazard to the tenants.

Calls to Hungerford for comment have not been returned.