INDIANAPOLIS -- The owners of Towne & Terrace townhomes on Indianapolis' far east side say the city of Indianapolis is responsible for many of the vacant and neglected homes in the complex.
The city owns 70 out of the 170 units.
Bobbie Williams says she's afraid to let her grandchildren outside.
"You don't even let your grandkids leave? Not really. Unless they're getting in a car and we're leaving," Williams said.
There have been three homicides at the complex this year.
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"It's terrible. I mean, I don't know what's going on when they're killing all these kids," Williams said.
Towne & Terrace claim all three murder victims were found in city-owned properties.
In a statement to RTV6 on Wednesday, Towne & Terrace Corp. said about the city, "The townhomes it owns are vacant, boarded up, neglected and deteriorating."
The statement also says:
"Towne & Terrace Corp. owns only the common areas of Towne & Terrace. Most Towne & Terrace residents are good people and families who need safe and affordable housing. We support efforts to have the owners of all of the townhomes in Towne & Terrace repair and rehabilitate their properties and bring them up to code."
The city's Office of Corporation Counsel says they've been in ongoing litigation with Towne & Terrace since 2013 to get control of as many properties as they can to either rehab or demolish them.
In 2014, the city was awarded federal grant funds specifically for the demolition of Towne & Terrace properties, but the city says the homeowners association has refused to allow the city to demolish the buildings.
There are roughly 3,300 hundred properties in Indianapolis that have active unsafe building orders or have had a vacant board order to date.
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