After two hearings, the Philadelphia Fair Housing Commission (FHC) has ruled that Alden Park’s property management retaliated against the tenants’ association leader, Kadi Ashby.

Late last year, Ashby received a non-renewal on her lease, which would strip the newly formed tenants’ association of its leader. At the time, Ashby was not given a reason for the non-renewal, something not required for year-to-year leases.

Ashby fought back, alleging retaliation by Alden’s owners and managers, L3C Capital Partners and RAM Partners LLC, and secured a hearing before the FHC. The commission issued its ruling on May 12.

During the hearing, Ashby’s lawyer, Madison Gray, a Public Interest Law Center attorney, presented internal emails from L3C to an attorney, stating that they needed to “focus on the two to three ring leaders of the association.”

In its ruling, the FHC concluded that the emails, “make it clear that Landlord’s primary reason for terminating the subject tenancy was because Landlord was unhappy with Tenant’s role in the Tenant Association.”

Included in the documents was an email response from the landlord’s attorney saying, “This resident’s lease ends in December. The timing could not have worked out better. Her non-renewal will be sent in the coming weeks. [The property manager] and I are in the process of discussing others, as well.”

When asked if she was surprised by the ruling, Ashby told the Local, “To be honest, no; it was such overt retaliation. They admitted as much in emails that they uploaded as evidence.”

When asked if she planned to stay at the Germantown property, she said, “I want the ability to choose whether or not I stay.”

As the lawsuit progressed, Asbhy was told she could not be evicted while her case progressed. Now she is unsure when she will receive a new lease from Alden Park’s owners and managers.

“As of now, they have not contacted me, so I still have not been offered a lease,” Ashby said. “The court order was only that the non-renewal is invalid.”

With the situation up in the air, Ashby says she’s “not worried about it.”

As of press time Tuesday, Ashby said she had not been contacted by management. Nor did the Local receive a reply from RAM Partners’s area vice president, Jessica Cartay. The owners and management have the option to appeal the decision.

During the hearings, the property managers, L3C Alden Park Apartments, said they did not renew Ashby’s lease because of posts she made in a tenant group chat, linking to Zillow listings of L3C executives’ “multi–million dollar houses.”

The FHC later concluded that Ashby’s post “served as a convenient excuse to terminate Tenant.”

Following the decision, Gray said, “Tenants like Kadi make us all safer when they speak up about the unsafe living conditions at their apartment complexes. But they can only do that when the city’s protections work as intended. … What this decision shows is straightforward: Out-of-state corporate landlords cannot bully Philadelphia renters into silence about the conditions of their homes.”

Timeline of events

In early 2025, Ashby and a handful of tenants grouped together to form the Alden Park Tenants Association.

Shortly after moving into her apartment, Ashby reported black mold and a leak to Alden Park’s maintenance. She eventually hired a lawyer after she said she waited more than three months for a response.

In April, Ashby, along with a couple of other tenants, attended a Northwest Tenants meeting, a group organized by East and West Mt. Airy Neighbors (EMAN and WMAN).

After the meeting, Ashby and several tenants spoke to the Local about conditions on the property. They described slow maintenance responses, open Licenses and Inspections violations, and falling chunks of concrete or stone from the building’s siding and balconies.

During that time, Ashby became the de facto public-facing leader of the group. She connected with advocacy groups and local elected officials, gaining the attention of City Council members Nicolas O’Rourke and Curtis Jones Jr.

Jones later toured the property with members of the tenants’ association.

Following the FHC decision, O’Rourke said, “This ruling reaffirms that tenants in Philadelphia have the right to report unsafe conditions and assert their rights without fear of retaliation. … The Fair Housing Commission’s decision in Kadi Ashby’s case makes clear that retaliatory actions by landlords will not be tolerated, and our city will continue to improve our protection of tenants who speak out about unsafe housing conditions.”

Ashby said it was O’Rourke’s team that connected her to the Public Interest Law Center.

As the case dragged on, it gained attention as an example of retaliation used to advocate for the Safe Healthy Homes bills pushed through City Council by O’Rourke. Ashby spoke at advocacy events and City Council hearings related to those bills.

When asked if she thought things would escalate to this extent when forming her tenant group, Ashby said, “I can’t say that I did. I thought it would be a lot more streamlined than it ended up being. I’m thankful that it did take the turn that it did. I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve met so many people, so it’s all been worth it.”

Under the bills, which Mayor Cherelle Parker signed into law on May 7, “good cause” protections for lease non-renewals expanded to include all leases, including year-to-year. Previously, Philadelphia law did not require landlords to provide a good cause reason for non-renewal.

Ashby said she’s grateful to have support from her connections and her fellow tenants, while many are not as lucky in these situations.

“That’s why Safe Healthy Homes passing was so important. Because most people, not only do they not have the time, they just don’t know where to go, and they don’t even know that they have rights,” Ashby said. “I don’t think that a large percentage of renters in Philly even know that the Fair Housing Commission exists, and that they can turn to them if they’re being retaliated against or discriminated against.”

Ashby said she intends to continue her work and keep organizing tenants at the property.

“The next steps are to just continue to do what we’ve been doing, to continue to organize and to show everyone that we have the right to organize. They can’t intimidate us,” Ashby said. “What it means for me is that fighting is worth it.”