Pepper Pike Capital Partners Lawsuit: Rokita, Vinocur, and More

The Pepper Pike Capital Partners lawsuit drawing the most attention is a November 2025 civil action by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita over dangerous living conditions at the Lake Castleton Arms complex in Indianapolis. The Cleveland-area landlord has also been sued by contractors in Missouri, hit with a vacate order in suburban St. Louis, placed under an ongoing nuisance order in Columbus, and named in a since-resolved employment discrimination case in Michigan.

Indiana Attorney General’s Suit Over Lake Castleton

On November 13, 2025, Attorney General Todd Rokita filed a civil lawsuit against Lake Castleton Owner LLC and Pepper Pike Property Management LLC in connection with a 1,261-unit complex on 90 acres in Indianapolis. Both defendants are Ohio-based LLCs that report up to Pepper Pike Capital Partners, which bought the property in March 2022 for $171 million.¹

The complaint alleges violations of Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act for misrepresenting the habitability of units, along with systemic violations of the state’s landlord-tenant statutes.² Between July 2024 and September 2025, the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County filed roughly 132 ordinance violation cases against the owner and manager, documenting broken air conditioning, sewage backups, water damage, mold, pest infestations, collapsed ceilings, and prolonged loss of heat or hot water. Fourteen of those cases had already produced judgments against Lake Castleton Owner LLC by the time the state sued.³

Investigators from the Attorney General’s Homeowner Protection Unit visited the site in April and May 2025 and found units unfit for habitation, including severely damaged bathtubs and structural problems. Tenants reported collapsed ceilings, long stretches without heat or hot water, and unresponsive maintenance. Some said management asked them to remove negative online reviews in exchange for rent concessions.² A FOX59 report described indoor temperatures reaching 90 degrees from broken air conditioning, walls caving in, black mold, and standing water on apartment floors.⁴

The state is seeking restitution for tenants, civil penalties of up to $5,000 for each knowing violation, treble damages for senior consumers, injunctive relief, and reimbursement of investigative costs.²

Before the state filed suit, a Marion County court issued an agreed order on October 3, 2025, appointing a third-party receiver for Lake Castleton as part of a mortgage foreclosure action. The receiver was brought in to take over operations given the severity of the property’s problems, and the state has said it may pursue additional remedies on top of the receivership.¹⁵

Pepper Pike operates seven other Indianapolis apartment complexes, including 9 on Canal and Spinnaker Court Apartments. No similar legal actions have been publicly reported at those properties.¹

Contractor Payment Suits in Missouri

At least five contractors sued Pepper Pike Property Management in 2024 over unpaid work at its St. Louis-area properties.⁶

Leroy Tate, owner of The Green Machine, filed suit in April 2024 claiming the company owed him $174,500 for lawn care, landscaping, emergency tree removal, and snow removal at five properties. Of that total, $38,290 was tied to Forest View Apartments in Crestwood. Pepper Pike disputed the charges, saying some services were performed without authorization. A status hearing was set for February 2025.⁶

A second contractor, O’Hara Outdoors, filed suit on February 11, 2025, claiming $171,929.65 for unpaid snow-removal and landscaping services. Pepper Pike said it was unaware of the suit and was working with O’Hara to “resolve billing discrepancies and unauthorized work.”⁷

Crestwood Vacate Order at Forest View Apartments

Forest View Apartments, a Crestwood, Missouri complex of more than 200 units built in the 1960s, drew a city inspection report in October 2024 citing electrical hazards, missing fire blocking, leaking plumbing, rotted subfloors, unstable basement support columns, and deteriorating exterior walkways.⁸

Crestwood gave the owners until June 2025 to correct the violations. When that deadline passed without repairs, a dangerous-building hearing in late July 2025 declared all 11 residential buildings unsafe.⁹ The city enforced a vacate order on one building in January 2026 and extended it to the remaining ten in May 2026, stating that the conditions “represent dangerous violations that threaten the health and safety of residents.”⁸

Columbus Nuisance Order at The Rand

In May 2025, Pepper Pike paid $15.1 million for a shuttered 508-unit complex on Rand Avenue in East Columbus. Formerly Colonial Village Apartments, the property had been declared a public nuisance in 2021 and forced to close in 2023 amid reports of gun violence, drug use, pest infestations, and building code violations. Inspectors found hundreds of refugees living in boarded-up, uninhabitable units at the time of the closure.¹⁰

Pepper Pike rebranded the property as The Rand and is putting $18 million into renovations, opening units in waves of about 50 with all 508 expected to be finished by September 2026. Rents start at $1,099 for one-bedroom units and $1,399 for two-bedroom townhomes, and the property accepts Section 8 vouchers.¹¹

The nuisance order from the Franklin County Environmental Court remains in effect. Tiara Ross, deputy chief of the Columbus City Attorney’s Property Action Team, said the lawsuit is not closed and that the new owners will be held accountable if the property does not remain free of nuisance conditions.¹⁰

Vinocur Employment Discrimination Case

Tina L. Vinocur sued Pepper Pike Capital Partners, LLC and Pepper Pike Property Management, LLC in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in August 2021, alleging civil rights violations related to employment. District Judge Terrence G. Berg signed a stipulated order dismissing the case on June 2, 2022, indicating the parties reached a resolution without a trial.¹²

1
IndyStar. Rokita Sues Ohio-Based Owner of Indianapolis Lake Castleton Apartments
2
State of Indiana. Landlords Endangered Tenants With Uninhabitable Conditions at Indy Apartments, Lawsuit Alleges
3
The Indiana Lawyer. Attorney General Sues Over Health Code Violations at Massive Castleton Apartment Complex
4
FOX59. Lake Castleton Apartments Sued by AGs Office for Unsafe Living Conditions
5
Insurance Journal. Indiana AG Sues Over Health Code Violations at Castleton Apartment Complex
6
FOX 2 St. Louis. Contractors Sue Crestwood Apartment Complex for Unpaid Work
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FOX 2 St. Louis. Landscaper Sues Property Manager for Over $170K on Snow Removal Services
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FOX 2 St. Louis. Crestwood Enforces Order to Vacate Troubled Apartment Complex
9
First Alert 4. Apartment Residents Moving Out After Crestwood Lists Buildings Dangerous
10
ABC 6 On Your Side. Crime Ridden Colonial Village Apartments Receives Major Renovations
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The Columbus Dispatch. Colonial Village Evictions, The Rand Columbus East Side Apartments
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CourtListener. Vinocur v. Pepper Pike Capital Partners LLC