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Steve Furman joined his neighbors outside their downtown Carrboro apartment building Wednesday to demand better housing conditions and management from their nonprofit landlord.
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Furman, 68, moved into the low-income Club Nova Apartments at 103 W. Main St. in 2006, shortly after it opened. He already knew some of the residents and didn’t need a car to get around. It helped him from becoming isolated due to his social anxieties, he said.
His federal Housing Choice, or Section 8, voucher covered about 70% of the now-$1,100 monthly rent.
But in August, his nonprofit landlord Community Alternatives for Supportive Abodes (CASA NC) condemned his roughly 400-square-foot studio apartment when mold grew from a leaky air-conditioner unit that needed to be replaced. At the same time, a neighbor’s floor caved in to the occupied apartment below.
Furman stayed with a friend before moving into a CASA-paid hotel room. He left when he couldn’t reach CASA about paying for more nights and spent five more months at a friend’s house before Triangle Tenants Union helped him advocate for a new Club Nova apartment.
Now, he’s helping neighbors launch the Club Nova Tenants’ Association to negotiate with CASA for improved living conditions and management.
Four of the building’s 24 apartments remain vacant, and three of those are condemned, he said, and tenants can’t reach anyone at CASA, even in emergencies.
“People in my situation, there’s not really any affordable housing anymore,” Furman said. “ I went to these apartments, and some of these apartments were so nasty, man. I was like, I’d rather live with a group of mongrel dogs in the woods than live here.”
The three-story, brick Club Nova Apartments was built in 2003 by the OPC Foundation (now part of Alliance Health) to help low-income people with mental illness live independently. It’s located behind the nonprofit Club Nova clubhouse for adults with severe mental illness. Some CASA tenants are members of Club Nova, but the entities are not affiliated.
County records show Raleigh-based CASA bought the property for $749,500 in 2011, when OPC was initially absorbed into Cardinal Innovations.
There have been maintenance problems before, from bed bugs to general disrepair, but it’s gotten worse, residents said. CASA staff has also lost or misplaced their annual paperwork and rent payments, they said, holding them responsible for missed deadlines. The News & Observer could not independently verify those complaints.
But publicly available inspection reports back up concerns about living conditions. Orange County is required to conduct annual inspections of its Section 8 voucher units. The other units fall under Carrboro’s jurisdiction, and typically are inspected only when there is a complaint or something happens.
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Condemnation is one of a town’s toughest tools for dealing with housing safety issues, short of getting a court order, or doing the repairs or demolishing the building and recouping costs from the owner.
The county and town reports show:
McElveen left in May, and Dana Mangum, a nonprofit professional with experience navigating growth and transition, was named CASA’s interim chief executive officer on June 1.
CASA officials declined interview requests, but sent an email statement to The N&O on Wednesday. In it, the management team said it values “resident feedback and recommendations for improvement, as the safety and well-being of our residents remains our highest priority.”
CASA “has invested significant time and resources into improvements” since 2011 and addressed any problems “as quickly as possible,” they said. Apartments with more serious issues are vacant to make repairs, including three that “have undergone significant updates over the past year, with all three scheduled for completion this month.”
“While we cannot comment on individual resident matters, we follow all applicable laws and established procedures in every case. We remain committed to providing safe, quality housing and serving each resident with dignity and respect,” the statement said.
Heather Nash, who lives next to one of the condemned units, said she’s not buying it.
Besides delaying repairs for years, CASA closed the laundry room, making it harder for tenants without transportation, she said, and two months ago, they taped off the building’s mailbox when the front panel broke, forcing residents to go to the post office — over a mile away — for mail.
“Last year, they tried to evict me because they lost money orders, because they send money orders back and then they say you owe a $15 late fee, which is [expletive] ridiculous. I’ve never seen a company like that before,” Nash said.
“They just need to fold and get the hell out of this town and out of every county here in North Carolina,” she said.
NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email [email protected].
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This story was originally published July 9, 2026 at 2:28 PM.