5812 Investment Group, a Columbus, Ohio multifamily landlord, has drawn scrutiny over its high volume of evictions and tenant complaints, with reporters and housing attorneys pointing to aggressive filing practices, allegations of unsafe conditions at its properties, and its use of RealPage rent-pricing software now at the center of national antitrust litigation. The company is not named as a defendant in the major RealPage cases, but its filing volumes in Franklin County and the tenant conditions reported at its properties have helped drive new local housing laws.
Who 5812 Investment Group Is
5812 describes itself as the largest single-owner multifamily property management firm in the Columbus metro area. It was founded in 1979 by George Van Vliet, who remains the owner, with Andrew Bratt listed as principal.15812 Investment Group. Our People The company manages 21 communities across the Midwest and focuses on acquiring and repositioning distressed workforce housing.25812 Investment Group. Homepage The Better Business Bureau lists New Life Multi-Family Management, LLC as a former name of the company.3Better Business Bureau. 5812 Investment Group LLC BBB Profile In Ohio, its footprint includes properties in Columbus, Reynoldsburg, and surrounding communities, among them Cornerstone Crossing, Ashton Pines, Lake Eden, and Eden at Caleb’s Crossing.
How Many Evictions the Company Files
Between March 2020 and June 2022, 5812 Investment Group filed 1,737 evictions across 15 properties in Franklin County, more than any other landlord on a list of the 100 properties with the highest eviction rates in the county.4NBC4i. More Than 33,000 Evictions in Franklin County Since Start of Pandemic The next closest filer had 1,315 filings across nine properties. The company did not respond to requests for comment at the time.
The volume continued. In June 2024 alone, 5812 filed 89 eviction cases in Franklin County Municipal Court, more than double the 44 filings from the next-largest filer that month.5ABC6. AI Landlords: Attorney Warns of Automated Evictions Nearly 2,000 evictions were filed across the county that same month, with Franklin County on pace to top 24,000 filings for the year.
Who Handles the Filings
5812’s eviction cases are filed by Willis Law, described in reporting as the most influential eviction firm in Columbus.6Harper’s Magazine. The Eviction Experts The firm’s managing partner, Dimitri Hatzifotinos, also serves as general counsel for the Columbus Apartment Association. In June 2024, Willis Law was responsible for more than 1,200 of the 1,990 eviction filings in Franklin County, roughly 62% of all cases.5ABC6. AI Landlords: Attorney Warns of Automated Evictions
Hatzifotinos has called the firm’s approach a “big-box concept” built for economies of scale, and has characterized evictions as straightforward questions of whether rent was paid or a lease expired.7Matter News. The Eviction Experts Jyoshu Tsushima of the Legal Aid Society of Southeast and Central Ohio has warned that landlords are increasingly using software to automate the eviction pipeline, “cutting the human element out entirely.”5ABC6. AI Landlords: Attorney Warns of Automated Evictions Hatzifotinos and Willis Law have denied using algorithms to issue automated evictions on behalf of 5812.
What Tenants Have Reported
In February 2024, tenant Hope Matfield opened an escrow case against 5812 over conditions at Eden at Caleb’s Crossing in Reynoldsburg, citing unsafe and unsanitary living conditions. Under Ohio’s escrow process, she began paying her $1,024 monthly rent to the court instead of the landlord while the dispute was pending.5ABC6. AI Landlords: Attorney Warns of Automated Evictions
The case unraveled when Matfield missed a payment. The court closed the escrow case and released the funds to 5812, and Matfield received an eviction notice the same day the money was transferred. Tenant advocates point to this dynamic as a reason renters hesitate to use escrow to address substandard conditions: one missed payment can trigger the very eviction the tenant was trying to prevent.
Reaching the company can itself be difficult. 5812 does not publish a corporate phone number for tenants and lists only an email address. Reporting also found that the company’s registered agent address on file with the Ohio Secretary of State was at one point a vacant office.5ABC6. AI Landlords: Attorney Warns of Automated Evictions The Better Business Bureau has logged 62 complaints against the company over a three-year period, though the BBB profile does not publicly detail the nature of those complaints.3Better Business Bureau. 5812 Investment Group LLC BBB Profile
RealPage Software and What It Means for 5812 Tenants
5812’s website indicates the company uses software from RealPage, a technology firm facing antitrust lawsuits across the country. The core allegation is that RealPage’s pricing algorithms let competing landlords coordinate rent increases through shared, nonpublic data, functioning as a price-fixing tool.8Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. Attorney General Schwalb Sues RealPage The District of Columbia sued RealPage and 14 landlords in November 2023, alleging the software inflated rents by an estimated 2% to 7%.
The largest consolidated case, In re RealPage Inc. Rental Software Antitrust Litigation (II), is pending in the Middle District of Tennessee. As of late 2025, the court granted preliminary approval of settlements totaling $141.8 million with 27 defendants.9Hausfeld LLP. RealPage Federal Antitrust Class Action
5812 Investment Group is not named as a defendant in the federal consolidated action or the D.C. attorney general’s lawsuit. Hatzifotinos has denied that 5812’s use of RealPage software inflates or fixes rent prices. That said, the federal class definition is broad enough that tenants who paid rent to any owner participating in RealPage’s revenue management solutions could fall within its scope, whether or not that owner is specifically named.9Hausfeld LLP. RealPage Federal Antitrust Class Action Renters who paid at a 5812 property during the relevant period may want to check the federal class notice as it becomes available.
New Columbus and Ohio Laws Responding to the Pattern
Columbus City Council has passed legislation requiring property owners to cover relocation and housing costs for tenants displaced by safety issues the landlord failed to address. Landlords must pay for up to three months of temporary housing or three times fair market rent for permanent displacement, and if the landlord refuses, the city pays directly and sues to recover the costs.10NBC4i. Tenants, Lawyers on Columbus Plan to Hold Problem Landlords Accountable
On April 20, 2026, Columbus City Council passed a rental registry ordinance by an 8-1 vote, sponsored by Councilmember Nick Bankston. Every residential rental property in Columbus must register with the city annually, and properties with repeated code violations or unresolved safety orders will be flagged with a “conditional registration status” that triggers increased inspections, mandatory remediation plans, and civil penalties.11Columbus Dispatch. Columbus Passes Rental Registry Ordinance as Landlords Push Back12WOSU. Columbus City Council Proposes Rental Registry to Combat Problem Landlords
At the state level, Ohio Senate Bill 245 would create an eviction defense fund providing free legal representation to low-income tenants facing eviction. As of mid-2026, the bill has been referred to the Senate Select Committee on Housing but has not advanced beyond that point.13Ohio Legislature. Senate Bill 245 Tsushima testified before that committee in May 2024 in support of the legislation, citing automated eviction practices and the difficulty tenants face when a small number of large landlords dominate the filing docket.
If you rent from 5812 and are facing an eviction filing or unsafe conditions, the Legal Aid Society of Southeast and Central Ohio has been the primary tenant-side voice in this litigation and policy fight, and Columbus’s displacement rules may apply where safety issues went unaddressed.