The state’s top legal officer is cracking down on the Ohio-based owner of several Indianapolis apartment complexes, alleging that the landlord “systematically failed” to fix critical issues at its largest property in Castleton.
Attorney General Todd Rokita is suing the owner and property management company that oversee more than 1,200 units at the Lake Castleton Apartments complex in northeast Indianapolis. The companies ignored or failed to promptly address dozens of code violations deemed unsafe by local health officials, including “broken air conditioning units, sewage backups, water damage, mold and pest infestations,” according to a Nov. 13 lawsuit.
Both companies — registered as separate businesses Lake Castleton Owner LLC and Pepper Pike Property Management LLC — report to the Cleveland-based real estate investment firm Pepper Pike Capital Partners. The firm owns properties in four Midwestern states and oversees thousands of units across eight complexes in Indianapolis, the largest of which are 9 on Canal, Spinnaker Court Apartments and the Lake Castleton Apartments.
Castleton landlord made tenants live in unsafe conditions
Pepper Pike Capital Partners bought the Lake Castleton Apartments, at 7601 Carlton Arms Drive, in March 2022 for $171 million — the highest price ever paid for a single Indiana apartment property at the time, according to the lawsuit.
Two years later, the Marion County Public Health Department ramped up enforcement of code violations at the complex.
From July 2024 to September 2025, the department filed more than 130 cases against the landlord, according to the attorney general’s lawsuit. In each case, health officials cited the landlord for failure to maintain habitable conditions guaranteed to each tenant under Indiana law.
Consumers also complained to the attorney general about “collapsed ceilings, prolonged lack of heat or hot water, unresponsive maintenance, and requests to remove negative reviews in exchange for concessions.”
“All landlords have a legal and moral duty to provide habitable housing, and when they repeatedly fail to do so, my office will hold them accountable,” Rokita said in a Nov. 18 press release.
Pepper Pike Capital Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Oct. 3, a Marion County judge appointed a third-party receiver to eventually take over the property as part of a mortgage foreclosure lawsuit.
The attorney general’s lawsuit mainly seeks to secure compensation for tenants at the Castleton complex, particularly seniors who lived in unsafe apartments, and $5,000 civil fines for each “knowing violation” by the landlord.
Consumers can file a complaint with the Office of the Indiana Attorney General by visiting indianaconsumer.com or calling 1-800-382-5516.
Email Indianapolis City Hall Reporter Jordan Smith at JTSmith@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @jordantsmith09 and Bluesky @jordanaccidentally.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Rokita sues major out-of-state landlord for unsafe conditions at Indianapolis complex
Reporting by Jordan Smith, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
