Tenants React to Poor Living Conditions at Southview Apartments
ABERDEEN, Miss. (WCBI) -“Nobody deserves to live like this,” said a Southview Tenant.
“WCBI has received several calls and emails about the living conditions here at Southview Apartment,” said Shawanda Jones. “Faulty electrical wiring, mold infestations, and as you take a look at your screen, you can even see a sink in a tenant’s floor. Now this happens all too commonly….but why?
A mother of three toddlers wants to keep her identity anonymous.
She SAYS SHE HAS been living in a bug invasion and mold outbreak FOR over a year now, and says management won’t do anything about it.
SHE ALSO believes it’s affecting the health of her children.
“When you move in here, you face health problems. My kids were sick. We just kept going back and forth to the doctor but you know I kept telling Ms. Avery that was mold. They’re not doing nothing but painting over, that’s it. When I did mention it to her, she said ‘why don’t you just find somewhere to go?”
Avis is the property manager.
She showed up at the apartment while we were there and spoke with the tenant.
The tenant says this is the first time she’s attempted to speak with her in week.
The former mayor of Aberdeen says people in government housing are usually scared to come forward when living in unbearable conditions like this.
“Socio-economically…it’s fear. Unfortunately, I don’t care what you pay for your home, you should be living in a decent home. If I’m five dollars, I’m still supposed to have a quality home. Most of all of our major apartment complexes are owned by an outsider that doesn’t live in our city. A lot of our citizens will not turn them in because they are afraid they may lose their residence because there’s not another place that’s any better than where they are.”
Roy Haynes is the city inspector and code enforcer for Aberdeen.
He says documentation is step one if you ever find yourself in a similar situation.
“Pictures tell a thousand words. Write down the dates, the situation, keep records.”
Once you have you’ve talked to management about your issues and the problems still haven’t been fixed, call your city’s inspector.
“I will actually go out physically and look at the apartment and see if there are any violations. Write those down. Give it to the manager or home owner to begin to correct those things.”
Anonymous tenant: “It’s not even fixable because of the mold, the leaks, the termites.”
“Don’t be scared to come talk to someone cause sometimes, even if you’re scared to tell it, we might can go out there and have a conversation with management to correct the problem. If you don’t tell us we can’t correct it.”
“I did speak with the office manager but she declined to comment and I even tried to get in contact with corporate and I had no luck,” said Shawanda. “Telling your story here in Aberdeen Shawanda Jones WCBI News.
