The Tremont Renaissance seemed to offer everything on Natasha Bent’s list: 24-hour security, children’s play areas and on-site laundry.
After moving in as one of the first tenants, Bent, a mother and middle school teacher at New Pathways Academy, quickly discovered problems. The advertised 24-hour security meant only cameras, not a guard, and the elevators in the seven-year-old building frequently broke down.
That was just the beginning of her problems. “My bathroom sink was broken off the wall and split in half. Then my kitchen sink’s countertop was broken. I moved into my unit like that,” Bent said.
“I was told that squatters were here, and they damaged a lot of the units,” she added.
Bent told the Bronx Times that it took seven years and a lawyer to get management to repair the damages.
She is one of the only tenants who has been able to get repairs. NYC 311 required the landlord to fix the appliances — especially the stove, which had been broken due to a gas leak — because a baby lived in the unit.
Tremont Renaissance tenants, including Bent, have sought to push management to make needed repairs by withholding rent. Since Bent stopped paying her rent nearly two years ago, she has accumulated over $18,000 in withheld rent, which she says she’s ready to pay as soon as the building addresses her concerns.
An estimated 60 tenants with past and ongoing eviction cases are in the process of withholding their rent. Last year, Bent and her neighbors formed the Tremont Renaissance Tenant Association. The tenant association alleges mismanagement by the company Highbridge Community Development Corporation.
Highbridge Community Development Corporation disputes many tenant claims. In a written statement to the Bronx Times, the company said it addresses violations and complaints as received and has met with the Tenant Association four times since March 2024. Management said repairs have not been outstanding for years and has “no knowledge” of telling anyone squatters damaged units.
“We endeavor to attend to all complaints from tenants in a timely manner as long as the tenants give access,” Highbridge management said in a written statement to the Bronx Times. “When tenants owe over $1,000,000 due to non-payment it makes it difficult to operate the building efficiently.”
An estimated 60 current and former tenants have complained about broken elevators, water leaks, pest infestations, mold contamination, gas leaks, broken appliances and dirty water.
Highbridge management company said it briefly employed security personnel, but removed them after tenants said they were ineffective.
Inspectors have cited the Tremont Renaissance for 138 housing code violations, and tenants have logged 234 complaints, according to NYC Housing Preservation & Development.
The Tremont Renaissance was built by developer Mastermind Development in collaboration with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development and the Highbridge Community Development Corporation.
The NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development partially funded the $117.7 million project, originally projected to cost $90 million.
Some of the building’s first tenants reported broken appliances, mold, and water issues upon moving in — problems that Bent said were prolonged by COVID-19 restrictions that limited repair access. Recent changes in superintendent leadership have helped address some concerns, Bent said, though issues such as dirty water and security breaches have continued to surface.
Close to 50 ongoing eviction cases have been filed against Tremont Renaissance tenants, according to Jessica Bellinder, a supervising attorney with the Legal Aid Society in the Bronx. The tenants association estimates 27 units have been vacated this year due to eviction.
According to Princeton University’s Eviction Lab, apartment rentals with the zip code 10457 — which includes those at Tremont Renaissance — had the second-highest total of residential eviction filings in 2023-24 and the seventh-highest residential eviction rate in New York City.
The number of eviction cases have risen dramatically across the city since the COVID-19 eviction moratorium expired in 2022. Since September 2024, landlords in the 10457 zip code there have filed 3,111 eviction notices.
According to a May report from Comptroller Brad Lander’s office, active eviction cases throughout New York City’s five boroughs rose 440%, from approximately 33,000 cases to 177,000 since the moratorium was lifted.
In NYC, not paying rent is the leading cause of eviction cases, — followed by property damage and illegal subletting — according to Alex Schwartz, a professor of urban policy at the New School for Social Research.
“A lot of these properties are feeling a really big pinch between lower rent collections and heightened operating costs,” Schwartz said. “Which can lead to deteriorating conditions and deferred maintenance.”
Not paying rent doesn’t always mean tenants can’t afford it; in some cases, renters withhold their payment deliberately, hoping a judge will compel landlords to make repairs.
But rent withholding is risky. Bellinder, an attorney with Legal Aid society said withholding rent is a tricky practice. Tenants often underestimate how quickly a case of not paying rent can move toward eviction and she advises clients to file their own affirmative cases instead of waiting to be sued.
“The risk of eviction usually outweighs the benefit of getting your landlord into court that way,” she said.
Dwana Morrison, a disabled tenant who lives in the Tremont Renaissance, won her first eviction case in 2023. She resumed paying rent as her lawyer advised — until October 2024 when her apartment became infested with gnats and the water changed color.
She decided to once again withhold rent.
“I did live with my grandkid, but it was so bad in here, and then the water was brown. He was getting sick, so I sent him back to his mother,” Morrison said. “The water’s so bad it’s itching my skin so bad the doctor had to give me a cream.”
Morrison said the brown water caused health issues for her grandson. Management said the discolored water issue was reported to the city’s Department of Environmental Protection and has since been resolved, though Morrison and Bent claim continued issues with their water.
Highbridge management received a formal tenant complaint in Feb. 2025 and have since hired additional building staff, overhauled the camera system, and repaired elevators and resumed access to some common spaces. After meeting with tenants four times they have additional meetings scheduled in March or April 2026.
“We are ready to work with tenants to make this building a safe and enjoyable place to live,” Highbridge management said in a written statement. “Management can do their part but if the tenants are also not doing their part then it would be difficult to achieve anything. We need to be partners in working things out for the betterment of the building and its residents.”
Bent and the Tenant Association are pursuing legal action, citing what they claim are worsening conditions in the building. Despite the ongoing dispute, Bent says she remains ready to pay the $18,000 in withheld rent once repairs are made.
“It’s not even a form of protest. But why am I paying rent? You’re not even maintaining my unit,” Bent said. “I have my money to pay the rent, but come fix the stuff.”
Kylie Clifton is a contributing writer at the Bronx Times and a data journalism student at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She can be reached at kylie.clifton23@gmail.com or (269) 615-0800. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
