BEDFORD – A judge has given landlord Jeff Jones one final chance to abide by terms of an agreement to fix deplorable conditions at apartments he owns in Bedford and avoid $129,200 in city fines.
If Jones doesn’t comply with the judge’s order, he faces additional fines that would equal hundreds of dollars per day. He has 120 days from the April 22 agreement date to get it all done.
The City of Bedford filed a lawsuit against Jones over the apartments’ unsafe conditions in September 2024 after he failed to make repairs mandated by a city inspector.
The city said the unmet standards resulted in such states of disrepair that people could not safely live in 28 units at Southview Terrace Apartments at 29th Street and South Shawnee Drive.
Conditions in some units in the 11 two-story buildings led to immediate evacuation because of health and safety issues.
Problems persist
The most recent inspection results presented during the April court hearing showed that of 28 apartments that were not in compliance, just 8 had been repaired. And those all missed court-set deadlines by 18 to 193 days.
The inspection noted existing problems in multiple units, including these:
∎ Water is leaking and has damaged the ceiling. Water is coming in from the exterior wall near the sliding door and has damaged the ceiling drywall. Brand new cabinets being stored in the unit are covered in mold.
∎ Apartment is unfit to live in. Sill plate and several floor joists were replaced, along with subfloor but the repairs have stopped. Water leaking has caused the apartment walls and ceiling to be covered in mold. There are active leaks in the ceiling. Drywall needs to be removed and replaced, not painted over.
∎ Some structural repairs have been made but they were not inspected before they were covered with subfloor. The floor in the utility room is nowhere close to being level so question if the repairs were made correctly.
Settlement agreement details
The parties and their lawyers, city attorney James Pittman representing Bedford and Bedford lawyer and state senator Eric Koch for Jones, signed the agreement that stipulates Jones be fined $50 daily for each of the overdue repairs.
“Jones acknowledges that as of April 22, 2026, he is 2,584 days late,” the agreement states. That’s $129,200.
Jones also must pay an additional $100 daily fine to the City of Bedford for each day the units are not completed as set forth in a 2025 court ruling.
But the agreement ratified April 27, 2026, by Lawrence Circuit Judge Nathan Nikirk gives Jones an opportunity to lessen his fines if he brings all the apartments into full compliance with Bedford and state housing safety codes.
If Jones’s apartments can pass city inspection by the final August deadline, “the total fine shall be reduced to $25,000 and shall be paid by Jones within 60 days of the date of inspection,” the court agreement states.
If Jones misses the deadline, the amount will double to $50,000. And if the apartments remain out of compliance after inspection in four months, Jones will owe the full fine amount.
Jones is prohibited from selling Southview Terrace. “Because the apartment units remain unsafe and uninhabitable and are the subject of a condemnation order of the City of Bedford, Jones agrees that he shall not sell the real estate,” Nikirk’s order states.
A review hearing in the case is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 19 in Lawrence Circuit Court in Bedford.
In the summer of 2025, Jones reached an agreement with the City of Bloomington amid ongoing legal trouble over conditions at his rental properties in the city.
Terms of a court settlement include provisions Jones sell all his Bloomingotn rental properties and cease operations there for 20 years.
City officials alleged Jones and his Bloomington-based business, Pendragon Properties, repeatedly failed to provide even “the bare minimum for safe, legal housing.”
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Judge gives landlord one more chance to repair Bedford apartments
Reporting by Laura Lane, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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