Volunteers rally behind Catherine Street eviction victims, help plan new affordable housing facility
“Toward the end of August, tenants living in the Catherine Street apartments received a quick notice to pack up and leave their homes.
Shocked and with nowhere to go, tenants questioned why the landlord gave a rushed move-out timeline. Soon after Ferretti Property Services of Cleveland, Mississippi, issued an eviction notice to the residents, members of Starkville Strong and the Oktibbeha County NAACP chapter and Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill arrived at Catherine Street to assess the situation.
Then, 21 of the Catherine Street residents, with the help of Starkville Strong and Oktibbeha County NAACP representatives, contacted Austin Vollor, an attorney in Starkville, to file a lawsuit against the property management services.
After multiple legal hearings and conjunctions, residents’ move-out timeline was extended and spread over a period of multiple weeks, with the last move-out day being Oct. 14.”