TOLEDO, Ohio — Call 11 for Action is looking into claims against a company for what tenants call "inhumane" housing in north Toledo.
Several residents of Covenant House on Erie Street in north Toledo complained about roaches, bed bugs and no hot water.
It all started when the family of Mae Howard, a resident of Covenant House, came to Call 11 for Action for help in October.
Her son, Lonnell Jones, and mother, Linda Howard told the Call 11 for Action team that Mae had recently suffered a stroke and was in the hospital. They said they knew she struggled with her living conditions at Covenant House but had no idea to what extent until they went to her apartment after her stroke.
"I didn't know the gist of the situation until she had a stroke," Jones said.
Howard and Jones shared a video Mae recorded in July 2023, in which she documents several broken fixtures and appliances in her apartment she was confident would not be fixed by Covenant House management.
"Just so you know, I'm showing proof of what's going on but nobody ain't gonna help me, nobody," she said in the video.
"I have to use the bathroom in my tub, have to urinate in my tub," she said, pointing out a missing shower head and a toilet that wouldn't flush. She then showed what appeared to be stained carpeting next to the bathroom.
"I can't even wash my face and brush my teeth because every time I use the water it will flood my bathroom...you see all this water, it's mildewing."
Mae also showed a bowl of water she said she had to heat up in order to bathe herself.
"Now this is Friday, I gotta wait till Monday morning to go through this? I'm just feeling like I'm a dog or something, it's just ridiculous," she said.
Jones said the experience was emotional.
"When I went to the apartment, I literally cried for an hour," he said. "I seen buckets of her urinating and feces and in bags and buckets. She told me she was urinating in the tub. It's just inhumane for a human to have to urinate and defecate in bags in the tub."
Mae's troubles appear to have started in 2018. In August of that year, she sought help from Legal Aid of Northwestern Ohio and sent a letter to Millennia Housing Management, the owners of the complex, listing ten items that needed to be repaired or she would deposit her rent money into escrow until those items were fixed.
She filed that suit in Toledo Municipal Court shortly after and later settled with Millennia.
She again held her money in escrow again in 2019 citing unresolved issues in her apartment.
"She was trying to get some help," Howard said. "She gave up because every time she tried to get somebody to help her, she couldn't get any help."
11 Investigates reached out to Millennia about Mae's complaints, including the ones she recorded in the video in July of 2023.
"A review of records related to Ms. Howard's unit shows that in August 2023, the current management team became aware that the toilet in her unit was not functioning. This matter was promptly addressed, and our records show that repairs were made on or around Aug. 31, 2023."
Notice Millennia said, "current management team."
That's another complaint from Mae's family, who said the building was "nice" when Mae moved in in 2016.
"The building started going down and they've had so many different managers up in there," Howard said.
It didn't take long for 11 Investigates to find others who said the same thing.
"They go through managers just like, as I change my underwear," Willie Barber said. Barber who he is moving out because of all of the issues he's experienced, including roaches.
Robert Valdez, who has lived at Covenant House for more than a year does not blame the local management. He blames Millennia.
"They can only do so much. The people that owns the building, there's somebody somewhere getting the check," he said.
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