The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will strip Ohio-based mega-landlord Millennia Housing Management of federal funding for Forest Cove Apartments, the infamous southside Atlanta complex that a city judge condemned in 2021, Mayor Andre Dickens’ office has confirmed.

In a letter sent in early May to former Forest Cove residents, whom the city of Atlanta rehoused last year after the property was condemned, the city and the nonprofit Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta hinted that HUD could revoke Millennia’s Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract—a deal that subsidizes rent via housing vouchers for low-income households—for Forest Cove, one of at least 30 Section 8 properties the company owns.

The Dickens administration told Atlanta Civic Circle on Saturday that HUD had decided to cancel the agreement. HUD did not respond to a request for comment by publication. 

Forest Cove renters previously used project-based vouchers, which tied the subsidies to their residency in that specific property—but the relocation prompted by the December 2021 condemnation order allowed them to transfer their HUD vouchers from Forest Cove to other apartment complexes.

Once HUD terminates the deal with Millennia, it will issue Tenant Protection Vouchers to the 188 relocated families, meaning they’ll retain their rental assistance and have the flexibility to move anywhere that accepts rent vouchers, including complexes outside of the city or state.

HUD’s plan to terminate Millennia’s HAP contract “ensures residents are going to be protected,” said Courtney English, a senior advisor to the mayor. “Their rents will continue to be paid, which is important news for them and their families.”

Millennia has faced years of local and national protests, thanks to its documented history of mismanaging properties and allowing them to become plagued by pests, mold, crime, and…