Hyattsville Condo Residents Face Months Without Heat, Hot Water Since Thanksgiving

Ernesto Chamurro has lived at the Marylander Condominiums in Hyattsville for 30 years. He pays $1,065 in monthly condo fees on top of a $680 mortgage payment, and for months he has had no heat and no hot water. "I'm sick and I have no money for a hotel," he said.

Chamurro is one of roughly 100 residents in the 200-unit complex who have been without heat since the day before Thanksgiving, after what property manager Quasar Real Estate says was vandalism to the building's heating system by people from a nearby homeless encampment in November. The damage caused pipes to burst and walls and ceilings to cave in. On February 5, a Prince George's County District Court judge gave Quasar 14 days to evacuate the Marylander Condominiums and begin repairing the heating system, following an injunction request by the county executive's office.

Lucienne Michaud, who has lived in her unit since 1988, described water coming out of her faucets as "so cold that it hurts to touch it." Retired and with nowhere else to go, she said flatly: "I don't feel like they are going to fix anything."

At the February 5 hearing, county attorney Calisa Smith told the judge that Quasar simply lacks the means to act. "Currently, they don't have the resources," Smith said. Dennis Whitley, the attorney for the condo association board, confirmed that Quasar officials were still pricing out the heating repairs while attempting to secure a bank loan. "The funding's not in place to do anything right now," Whitley said.

The financial picture for the Marylander has deteriorated sharply. A previous insurer canceled the condo's property insurance, citing ongoing vandalism related to the nearby encampment. According to the Washington Free Beacon, more than 20 other carriers have since declined to provide coverage, a significant problem given that Maryland law requires the condo to carry property insurance. Banks, insurers and vendors have all severed ties to the property, according to Quasar. The condo association has also filed a $25 million federal lawsuit against Prince George's County.

Quasar CEO Ken Brown has insisted that the encampment must be cleared before repairs and lending can move forward. "Over the past eight months, every penny we've spent to make repairs has been undone by vandalism from that encampment," Brown told WJLA in December. Quasar's managing director of real estate, Phil Dawit, testified at the February 5 hearing that homeless addicts continue returning to the encampment after police arrest and release them. Repairs to the perimeter fence and building locks have repeatedly failed, with residents describing encampment occupants sleeping and defecating in the building's laundry room.

The Washington Free Beacon reported more serious allegations about the encampment, including claims of open-air drug dealing, gang graffiti referencing MS-13, and AK-47s that police say were found in wooded areas nearby, though the Free Beacon noted it was unclear who had left the guns there. Prince George's County police declined to comment on gang activity in the area.

For residents like Linda Barber and her son Chris, who were reported wearing winter clothes inside their unit as early as December 12, the situation has stretched on without a clear resolution. One unnamed 40-year resident, speaking in a Fox News broadcast posted February 18, captured the despair plainly: "It is not my home no more. It is not my home."

With the court's 14-day evacuation and repair order now elapsed and funding still unconfirmed, it remains unclear when the Marylander's residents will have heat restored or where those with nowhere else to go will end up.