Settlement in Silver Oaks Case; Story Not Over Yet

A confidential settlement reached last week between 49 former Silver Oaks Place residents and the developer who forced them out isn't the end of the story.

Attorneys for the current owners of the retirement complex, Tell Real Estate Trust, and the prospective owner, Alabama-based Capstone Development Corp., led by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.

The inclusion of a confidentiality clause means the Silver Oaks signed an agreement that they wouldn't disclose the details of the settlement.

Marilyn Holloway was one of those 49 who signed the deal, and until Monday she was one of five people still living at the complex. Holloway moved out Monday along with Tom Hudak to leave just three people remaining at what was Silver Oaks Place.

"I’m not happy about moving, but I know that I have to move because there was no law that protected the people there," Holloway said. "And by staying we were breaking the law. But hopefully there’s been some attention drawn, and some of the residents would like to continue meeting and see if something can be done about fair housing law to protect the seniors.”

Holloway and the other residents plan to reach out to legislators on the state and federal level to try and amend fair housing laws to outlaw age discrimination.

Avery Friedman, the civil rights attorney who represented the Silver Oaks seniors, said they entered the mediation with Capstone and Tell Realty at a disadvantage because the Fair Housing Act has no provision to prevent age discrimination.

"The residents there were really fighting without the law," Friedman said. "The approach now is that the Silver Oaks case proved that most people thought that there is a law against age discrimination against housing."

Friedman said the seniors have been meeting periodically at the to talk about pushing for change in the state and federal housing laws.

He said it's hard to say whether the Silver Oaks seniors will succeed, particularly when you consider many people thought the original Fair Housing Act would not pass in the 1960s.

"I remember sitting there at the church and listening to an extraordinary, enlightened group of people acknowledging that there was no law, and I think they were proud of their standing up," Friedman said. "But at the same time I also believe it is necessary to take legislative action, and that seemed to be the impetus. It would have been very easy for them to simply close the book, and that’s it.

"Is the Silver Oaks experience and the visibility it was afforded enough to get Congress to change the law?" Friedman said. "I don’t know. Given the fact that no law existed, I’m delighted the parties were able to find common ground."

Regardless, Holloway and the others plan to try for amendments to protect seniors after the holidays and after some of those who recently moved have settled in.

Holloway said one of the remaining seniors suggested a new law designed to prevent age discrimination be called the "Silver Oaks Fair Housing Law."

"That was just talking, but people would like to see changes," she said.

Capstone spokesman Alton Irwin did not return a call for comment, but the company did release a statement Wednesday about the settlement that said, in part, "each tenant participating in the mediation expresses their appreciation for the fair treatment they received from the landlord and Capstone in the amicable resolution."

Capstone's deal to buy the 13-acre complex from Tell Realty is expected to close by the end of the year. The Alabama developer has already started making renovations to the complex, which it plans to remodel in an effort to attract student tenants attending nearby Kent State University.

And the city recently issued a new sign permit for the complex that uses the existing sign posts but replaces the sign that read "Silver Oaks Place; Retirement Community" with a sign that will read "University Oaks."

Holloway said many of the residents who were forced out view the new name as an insult.

"It was Silver Oaks, and the bad feelings and such, I wish they had gone with something different," she said. "Some people said it feels like a slap in the face. Take our apartments and take part of our name, too."