‘It’s outrageous’ cry homeowners as neighbor rents house to 10 people & installs bathroom in ‘middle of the living room’

HOMEOWNERS in a historic Black neighborhood are raising the alarm on PadSplit, a co-living marketplace that rents rooms in houses by the week. ..Read Full Article

Since the 1950s, Collier Heights has been a predominately Black, middle-class neighborhood built by Black developers for Black families that have passed these homes down through generations.

But now these Atlanta residents are trying to shed light on a new form of gentrification they say is ruining their neighborhood – boarding homes through PadSplit.

PadSplit is a company that allows homeowners to list their houses on their marketplace and rent rooms by the week.

Ivan De Figueredo Jr., a homeowner in the neighborhood, remodeled the inside of his home and transformed it into a 10-bedroom house, with a bathroom in the living room, specifically for this purpose, according to an investigation by local ABC affiliate WSB-TV.

“If you’re going to take the interior and carve it up, that’s an absolute violation of the city’s zoning code,” said Atlanta City Council Member Michael Julian Bond.

He added that Collier Heights is zoned for single-family homes only, and running a rooming house, like those offered on PadSplit, is illegal in this neighborhood – especially ones with 10 bedrooms and a bathroom in the living room.

But De Figueredo Jr. has had his house listed on PadSplit for years, receiving multiple citations from the City of Atlanta for violations of operating illegal rooming houses, zone violations, illegal short-term rentals, and breaking historic district ordinances.

A quick search of PadSplits in the Atlanta area shows that the vast majority of rooms offered are clustered in South Fulton and South DeKalb counties – two majority-Black communities.

DeKalb County has a population that is 54% Black, with South Fulton’s Black population being over 90%.

The fact that PadSplit is concentrated mainly in these counties has led many residents in these areas to believe that PadSplit is specifically targeting majority Black communities for their predatory business model.

PadSplit, which started in 2017, just hit $3.5 million in revenue for 2023.

But PadSplit denies the claim that they are targeting minority communities, and denies that their business plan is predatory.

“PadSplit wants to be a good neighbor,” said a spokesperson to booing DeKalb residents in March 2020 at an Atlanta courthouse about multiple code violations on a PadSplit home.

PadSplit argues that the legal responsibility to maintain the local laws and the zoning permissions is with the homeowners, not them.

“We do not own, did not renovate, nor do we serve as the property managers of the house in question, although it is one of the thousands of housing choices provided through our marketplace,” PadSplit said in a statement.

But the problem is, that PadSplit residents are the ones living in the homes, paying their rents through PadSplit, applying for leases through PadSplit, and are supposed to follow PadSplit rules.

“PadSplit is trampling on the history of the community, and denigrating the people that they’re trying to be a neighbor to,” said Bond.

“It is outrageous. And it needs to stop.”

De Figueredo, Padsplit LLC, and Padsplit CEO Atticus Leblanc were all written citations in 2023, but the city says it despite its best efforts, they have been unable to serve Leblanc and Padsplit those citations.

“On multiple occasions, the Department of City Planning, Office of Buildings, has attempted to serve citations to Atticus LeBlanc and others associated with pad splits whereby illegal use of land violations are occurring.”

In court this month for De Figueredo’s citations, the judge presiding over the case said the first thing that needs to be sorted out is whether LeBlanc and PadSplit are responsible or if De Figueredo is the right person who should be cited for the violations.

But the Attorney for the City of Atlanta asked for a 45-day continuance, since nobody from the city code and enforcement office showed up to testify.

“It’s like no one cares,” said Heather Allen, who lives a few doors away from the Padsplit in Collier Heights.