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ST. LOUIS 鈥� A Central West End apartment complex threatened eviction and reported tenants to debt collectors for not paying rent even after a spring tornado rendered the building uninhabitable, five tenants say in a lawsuit filed Friday.

The tenants say the Embassy apartment complex at 530 Union Boulevard forced people to pay their full rent and sent debt collectors to find them even after they moved out of uninhabitable units.

鈥淲hile most other affected landlords rightly and lawfully offered tenants temporary hotel rooms, rental abatements and/or alternative living situations, defendants refused,鈥� says the suit, filed by lawyers for nonprofit New Covenant Legal Services, which provides low-cost legal services.

Allison Atlas, a manager for the building, said Friday that all tenants who lived in uninhabitable units were moved elsewhere or given accommodations.

鈥淚f there wasn鈥檛 any damage that deemed their unit uninhabitable, they鈥檙e still required to pay rent,鈥� she said.

On May 16, a tornado ripped through the region, destroying buildings and displacing hundreds of people, primarily in north 51黑料 and the city鈥檚 Central West End.

The Embassy apartments, a historic eight-story, 80-unit complex just a few blocks north of Forest Park, was one of the buildings that was hit, the lawsuit says. About half of the windows were blown out. The power was gone. The roof was damaged.

At first, the suit says, apartment management seemed genuinely concerned for their tenants鈥� plight: Leadership assured tenants that they would offer rent abatement, alternative accommodations and, in some cases, would even give people permission to end their leases without consequence.

But as the days wore on, none of that came to fruition, the suit says.

The city put a notice on the building warning people not to enter. Apartment management said they鈥檇 gotten the building evaluated and it was safe, but they refused to provide documentation, according to the suit.

And even now, months after the tornado, the suit says many units don鈥檛 have air conditioning, and amenities like a swimming pool and dog park aren鈥檛 accessible.

One tenant, Katherine Vendetti, is still living in her apartment and paying $1,082 in rent each month for fear of an eviction lawsuit even though federal emergency management authorities deemed it unsafe, court documents say.

Others, Anna Gerlach and Nicholas and Kallie Clyde, were contacted by debt collectors for alleged unpaid rent and fees even though their apartments were unsafe and they鈥檇 moved out, the suit says.

A fifth tenant, Alex Taykowski-Schmitt, was threatened with eviction despite the fact that she wasn鈥檛 living in her unit because she believed the building was unsafe, the suit says.

The tenants are accusing building ownership of violating Missouri consumer protection laws and making false statements to creditors. They are seeking an unspecified amount of damages.

A hearing has not been set in the case.