Residents of Franklin Park and members of CASA de Maryland held a rally and press conference on Monday, October 18 protesting alleged eviction notices for the large apartment complex. While the group gathered peacefully and put on red CASA T-shirts in solidarity with the nonprofit organization, the apartment management, Fieldstone Properties, represented by Denise Knight, said the gathering was based on misinformation and that mass evictions are not pending.
The press release issued by CASA de Maryland, a Silver Spring-based organization, states that “Since the expiration of the eviction moratorium on October 1, Franklin Park, managed and owned by Fieldstone Properties, has sued for possession and gotten more than 180 writs of eviction.”
Knight said, in an email dated October 15 to County Councilmember Todd Turner and other city and county officials, that the statement was false. “Franklin Park has no plans to evict 180 residents within the next week, month or remainder of the year.”
Furthermore, she added, “As part of our continued commitment to our residents, we have been finalizing plans for an upcoming rental assistance fair specifically for our residents who do not have an Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) application pending. In conjunction with our work with the county, this has been scheduled to occur next week.”
She also noted that while Franklin Park has executed 11 evictions in the last month, those evicted had high balances due and did not have any pending rental assistance application. “And,” said Knight, “[they] failed to take advantage of available resources after exhaustive attempts on our part.”