In the News

For media inquiries, contact lholt@housingnm.org, MFA Public Information Manager.

Friday, July 11, 2008 - ( New Mexico Business Weekly )

MFA, city turn around troubled apartments

The formerly crime-plagued Villas Esparanza apartment complex, near Carlisle Boulevard and Comanche Road NE, has been declared "crime-free" by officials from the Albuquerque Police Department's Crime-Free Multi-Housing Program.

A news release sent out by the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority said that police SWAT teams had been regular visitors to the complex, that a baby had been murdered there and that a woman's burned corpse had been left in its yard.

"We were here every day," said Linda Fleisher, an APD crime prevention specialist. "Now, 90 percent of the calls have ceased. Now they're living in a safe environment. It's become a very responsible community."

The Mortgage Finance Authority credits the turnaround to a partnership between itself, APD, Logan Property Management and apartment residents themselves.

Logan bought the complex, formerly called Lafayette Square Apartments , in 2004, and the MFA helped it secure financing to rehabilitate the property. The MFA also helped Logan secure financing to keep the units affordable for low-income residents, and monitored the apartments to keep them in compliance with low-income housing regulations.

Fleisher and the police department started working with residents, the MFA and Logan 18 months ago to help create a safer environment. APD and MFA ran extensive background checks on each resident, resulting in several evictions.

Residents celebrated the turnaround on Tuesday with a barbecue.

"People always wanted to be nice to each other, but they were afraid," said 32-year-old resident Carmen Lewis. "Now, it's calmed down a lot. It feels a lot safer."

The complex is now an official designee in the city's Crime-Free Multi-Housing Program.