The City of Lansing has filed an emergency complaint with the Ingham County Circuit Court in an attempt to delay the eviction of nearly 100 individuals from the Magnuson Hotel in south Lansing.
Ingham County Circuit Court Judge James Jamo has issued a Temporary Restraining Order against the Magnuson Hotel and set a hearing date of Tuesday, September 13 at 10 a.m.
The order notes that the "Defendant are enjoined and restrained until further order of this court from creating and continuing a public nuisance by evicting the residents at the Magnuson Hotel."
The city's complaint asks the court to issue an injunction prohibiting the eviction for up to 120 days to allow the city and other stakeholders to come up with a plan to rehouse the soon-to-be dislocated individuals.
“The Magnuson’s plan to evict everyone with less than two weeks’ notice is heartless, reckless and reprehensible. If it isn’t already, it should be illegal,” Mayor Bernero said. “The residents of the hotel are there because they were homeless, which means they don’t have the financial resources to secure a place to live without outside assistance. My team is working around the clock to develop a relocation strategy, but it is a massive undertaking that requires time and money to plan and execute. The court simply must step in and prevent this egregious situation from getting even worse.”
Mayor Bernero declared a local housing emergency on Tuesday after the facility's management informed residents that they will be evicted by September 12th.
The emergency declaration makes Magnuson residents eligible for placement at federally-funded public housing units managed by the Lansing Housing Commission (LHC).
LHC properties are currently 97% occupied and cannot accommodate all of the Magnuson residents.
The mayor’s declaration also designated Lansing Human Relations and Community Services Director Joan Jackson Johnson as the coordinating official for relief efforts.
“We are working at a feverish pace to develop a plan to rehouse nearly 100 people, many of whom have significant challenges due to their history of homelessness and lack of financial capacity,” Dr. Jackson Johnson said. “We are making progress, but we desperately need more time to prevent people from being left out on the streets with no place to go, especially families with children and other vulnerable individuals who are challenged by chronic mental health or substance abuse issues.”
