by Mona Mahadevan The New Haven independent
Petya Vassilev, general counsel for Capital Realty: “If you misquote me, we will take legal action.” Photo credit: LinkedIn.
Management’s office was closed on Wednesday afternoon. Notices posted on the doors of a Sunset Ridge building.
(Updated) The owner of a 312-unit, low-income apartment complex on the northeast side of town has barred two Connecticut Tenants Union (CTTU) leaders from the property amidst an organizing campaign centered on renters’ complaints about mold, rodents, and untreated water leaks.
Representatives of the landlord, the Capital Realty Group, accused CTTU organizers of harassing residents and fostering discord — and pointed out that the property already has a tenants union, one with the stated goal of working collaboratively with management.
CTTU leaders have pushed back, arguing that the current union is actually in the pocket of management. But the union’s president, a tenant of eight years, said the union is completely real and has received 160 signatures of support from residents.
In the midst of this landlord-tenant-organizer saga, on Friday, a New Haven legal aid attorney issued a demand letter to Capital Realty, telling them to stop retaliating against tenants for organizing.
All of this conflict is currently playing out at Sunset Ridge, which is owned by the New York-based Capital Realty Group and located at 17 Mountain Ridge Ter. It comes as tenants unions at seven Capital Realty-owned properties across five states — including at Park Ridge in West Hills — push for a collective bargaining process.
Sunset Ridge has long attracted complaints of unjust and unhealthy living conditions, with two dozen residents in October 2024 claiming to have developed respiratory issues from mold exposure. According to state court records, since Capital Realty purchased the income-restricted property in July 2023, they’ve filed 40 separate eviction lawsuits against the complex’s tenants.
Now, organizers and tenants allege that management is engaging in anti-union efforts by towing their cars, following around residents, calling the police, and creating a management-backed union.
Yoana Avila, a Capital Realty property manager at Sunset Ridge Apartments, provided the following statement via email:
“Our property is well-maintained with no violations or complaints regarding heat or hot water issues. We engaged a licensed mold inspection company, which confirmed there are no mold issues.
“Our tenants have formed a tenant union, and your group has harassed and threatened its leaders, creating divisiveness, friction, and intimidation tactics. We have a strong & positive community and ask that you stop these harmful tactics.”
Capital Realty’s principals, Mosche Eichler and Sam Horowitz, did not respond to requests for comment.
According to the city’s online building permit and housing-code-complaint records, as well as additional data from Livable City Initiative (LCI) Executive Director Liam Brennan, since 2019, over 147 complaints about unsafe and unhealthy living conditions have been submitted by Sunset Ridge tenants to LCI. Of those, 78 were lodged after Capital Realty purchased the property. The complex is “very much on [their] radar,” wrote Brennan.
Management’s allegedly anti-union efforts escalated on Sunday, according to CTTU Vice President Luke Melonakos. He said CTTU organizers, who helped launch the nationwide unionization effort at Capital Realty properties, were doing outreach at Sunset Ridge when the police were called.
According to city police spokesperson Officer Christian Bruckhart, that evening, someone at Sunset Ridge reported that a “female” was “verbally arguing” and “trying to recruit” tenants into a union. The caller told officers that “they already have a tenants organization.” Officers decided the situation was ultimately a “civil matter” that needed to be addressed with property management.
After being invited back by residents, organizers returned on Tuesday. Melonakos and CTTU President Hannah Srajer said they were then served with “No Trespass” notices by management and told not to return.
The next day, this reporter rang the doorbell to the Sunset Ridge manager’s office and asked to speak with a representative. A woman came out and said the manager wasn’t there. Less than an hour later, someone identifying herself as Petya Vassilev — general counsel of Capital Realty — told this reporter over the phone that the police would be called unless she left the property immediately. Vassilev wasn’t able to say whether this reporter had been placed on the “no trespassing” list but noted that either way, she was not allowed to return. Vassilev did not provide a reason for the ban.
As of Wednesday, no trespassing and no soliciting notices had been posted on nearly every door of the complex.
Adjacent to those notices, another set of posters advertise the Sunset Ridge Tenant Union, saying that the union aims to “work in collaboration with management to address concerns and improve our community” and to “partner closely with management to ensure that resident needs are heard, respected, and addressed in a timely manner.” The posters list seven tenants on the board.
Melonakos argued that the union is not legitimate and might even be associated with management. He said tenants told him that people on the list are Capital Realty employees or friends of the property manager.
Sebastian Gomez, however, claimed in an interview with the Independent that the union formed organically after tenants approached him six months ago with concerns about the complex. He finished collecting signatures and officially formed the union two or three weeks ago. As the president, he said he’s aiming to be “the main voice for tenants” and has already worked with management on replacing moldy carpets in four or five units, ordering exterior lighting and cameras for the parking lot, and getting an exterminator to visit more regularly.
Gomez stated emphatically that he is not a Capital Realty employee and is not being paid by management.
He also said the union is not associated with CTTU, a group he claimed is inciting “conflict” and “disturbances” at Sunset Ridge. He told the Independent that he spoke to CTTU organizers on Sunday, after 18 tenants called him to complain about people knocking on their doors.
“They started yelling at me, telling me bullshit, saying [that management]’s paying me,” said Gomez. Since then, he claimed CTTU organizers have called and texted him multiple times to set up a meeting.
He has mixed feelings about quality of life at the complex; he knows that many of the units are “pretty old,” but there’s “nothing really wrong” with his unit, and he’s seen other units that are “pretty good.” Overall, he said, management’s been “pretty open” to making changes.
Melonakos clarified to the Independent that he spoke to someone who said he was in the Sunset Ridge Tenant Union earlier in the week, but that person did not identify himself as the president and did not provide CTTU with a phone number. He said no one from CTTU has spoken to Gomez.
While management seems to be backing Gomez, the tenants who associate with CTTU organizers say they’re facing retaliation. Teana Milton, who’s lived in the complex for two or three years, said her car was towed on Wednesday, just a day after she’d been seen speaking with this reporter. Several other residents said they believe management is watching them and only agreed to speak with the Independent under the cover of nearby trees.
In response to those allegations, Amy Eppler-Epstein, a lawyer with New Haven Legal Assistance Association (NHLAA), wrote and submitted a demand letter to Capital Realty (included below).
“The law is very clear that tenants have the right to organize and that landlords can’t retaliate against them for organizing,” she told the Independent. “Tenants certainly have the right to invite their guests to the property.” Eppler-Epstein said she hopes that a “legal battle” won’t be necessary and urged Capital Realty to come to the negotiating table.
Such negotiations could benefit both sides, she argued. The collective bargaining process gives landlords “an opportunity to address in a collective, cooperative manner the issues that concern everybody,” rather than litigating each case individually, she explained.
A union, she emphasized, is not “something [Capital Realty] should be afraid of.” Reflecting on her work with the Blake Street Tenants Union, she recalled a landlord’s attorney later acknowledging that the negotiated agreement had been beneficial for both the tenants and the property owner.
Noting the “growing strength” of the tenants movement across the country — including at several Capital Realty properties — she said, “This is a movement that seems to have power. I hope that rather than fighting it, [Capital Realty will] get on board.”
She urged the landlord to “come to the table, negotiate, and try to resolve the issues on both sides.”
On the tenant side, those issues involve allegations of deteriorating living conditions and a culture of disrespect.
Milton said she and her 5-year-old daughter had been getting sick more frequently since moving into Sunset Ridge — illnesses she believes are linked to what she described as persistent mold and mice infestations in their apartment.
When she reported the problem to management, she said, she was told that the mice were only there because people’s apartments are “nasty.”
She also claimed to have received unjustified late fees and to have not been credited for prior rent payments.
While she wants to move out, she said, “In this economy, who can afford to move?”
Federico Solis, who’s lived in the complex for 26 years, described similar conditions, showing this reporter image after image of mice he said he’d caught in traps that he was required to purchase himself. He also shared a photo of his ceiling, which he said collapsed after leaking rainwater for four years.
“If I had been there” when the ceiling collapsed, he said, “I’d be dead.” He added that the hole was at one point so severe that he could see up through the next unit. His ceiling has since been repaired.
“I’m scared for my health,” shared Solis. Like Milton, he wants to leave but feels like he has “nowhere else to go.”
Both Solis and Milton said their rent increased significantly after Capital Realty acquired the property — by $350 and $250 per month, respectively. Melonakos said he heard many tenants were subject to similar increases.
Jose Sosa, who’s faced three eviction proceedings since moving in, said management “plays games with people.” Because of how long it takes for maintenance to make repairs, he did the work himself, replacing cracked bathroom tiles and adding caulking to walls.
For Melonakos, the struggle at Sunset Ridge reflects something broader about the city. “The vast majority of residents are low-wage workers,” he said, and have been subject to a culture of “surveillance” and “intimidation.”
In the midst of a political environment where “housing and civil rights are being decimated,” he argued, “New Haven should be a place where those rights are respected and protected.”
He called on city officials to ask themselves “whether we really are a union town, and whether we truly respect the rights of people who organize.”
This article has been updated to include an interview with Sebastian Gomez, who identified himself as the president of the existing Sunset Ridge Tenant Union, and a response from Connecticut Tenants Union Vice President Luke Melonakos.