The operator of Hillsdale Thrift will face a city occupancy case Oct. 8 as she plans to refile a federal housing lawsuit she dropped last month.

Melissa DesJardin, former executive director of HOPE Harbor, said the court hearing is set for 9 a.m. Thursday. The city claims the group is using its West Carleton Road property as a sober transitional house without an occupancy permit. DesJardin said she has faced public confusion from having her name in the filings.

“In the court’s eyes, it’s against the thrift store, but in all of the filings or the docket online, it only says my name,” DesJardin said.

She said she learned at a Sept. 29 hearing that she cannot represent the nonprofit. DesJardin then called roughly 26 lawyers, but had not retained one for the Oct. 8 hearing as of Wednesday morning. Under Michigan Court Rule 4.201(G)(5), if the defendant fails to properly appear at the date and time on the summons, the plaintiff may move for default and the court may enter a default judgment.

The city’s lawyer Tom Thompson and Assistant City Manager Sam Fry did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.

DesJardin said the building now houses a mother, a father, a 6-month-old, a blind woman, and three people with cognitive disabilities. Stays at the facility average about six months, she said, because apartment waitlists run about that long and adult foster-care homes have their own lists.

Responding to the enforcement of the city’s new rule, Hope Harbor, BMAK Charity Thrifts, and DesJardin sued the city March 23, alleging the city denied a reasonable accommodation to run first-floor recovery housing in a B-3 district, where dwellings are not allowed on the ground floor, and that the denial violated the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. It also alleged the city demolished a tent and billed BMAK for the demolition.

HOPE Harbor, which stands for Hillsdale Opportunity Promoting Empowerment, was a transitional living facility for the homeless located behind the Hillsdale Community Thrift store. Over the summer, the director’s board disbanded, and DesJardin resigned as the executive director. She and a few of the former directors created a nonprofit called Your Way Home, which operates as a replacement for HOPE Harbor.

DesJardin said the federal case was dismissed without prejudice after a split with Hope Harbor, and that she will refile in about a month under Your Way Home.

The city has said in council meetings that the Carleton Road use is not permitted.

Kim Thomas, assessor and code official for the city, noted the confusion about who the lawsuit was specifically against.

“This should actually be City of Hillsdale v. Hillsdale Community Thrift because that is who actually owns the property,” Thomas said. “Melissa DesJardin is listed as their resident agent on their corporation filing, so that’s why her name is listed on all of the legal documents. She is just acting as their agent, she is not the one single person responsible for their property, and that is part of what the issue is on why this is being delayed.”

The litigation has progressed slowly, Thomas said.

“We have written a number of tickets,” Thomas said. “We were scheduled for a hearing in front of the judge two weeks ago that was continued because she did not have an attorney present at that meeting. Last week, we were again scheduled for a hearing, her board had still not appointed an attorney to represent them for the hearing. As an individual on the board, she was not able to act on their behalf, so we have been continued again. We have another meeting scheduled for Thursday at 9 a.m., where she is to have an attorney present.”

The legal representative present at Monday’s council meeting explained why DesJardin needs a lawyer.

“A corporation or an LLC,” Thompson said, “any officer of that entity, can’t come to court and represent that entity, an attorney has to represent them.”

According to Thompson, the Oct. 8 hearing will proceed, whether or not DesJardin has a representative present.