TOLEDO, Ohio — Call 11 for Action is reporting that efforts to clean up the Covenant House in Toledo are progressing.
Toledo city councilwoman Vanice Williams, who represents District 4 where Covenant House is located, said city, county and representatives on a federal level met with Millennia Companies, the owner of Covenant House, on Wednesday.
Several residents told Call 11 for Action about deplorable conditions in their subsidized housing, including roach and bed bug infestations, and repairs to appliances and plumbing going unaddressed for weeks or months.
Millennia owns or operates more than 280 complexes in 26 states, many of which are low-income housing, subsidized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Millennia's reputation isn't great across the country either.
Currently, there is a $5 billion class-action lawsuit against the company, and at one point, a federal investigation after a tenants' group in Kansas City, MO. sounded the alarm on conditions in their complex.
Under the Fair Housing Act, tenants of federally subsidized housing provided by HUD have certain rights.
They are spelled out on HUD's website and include, "The right to live in decent, safe, and sanitary housing that is free from environmental hazards... and the right to have repairs performed in a timely manner, upon request."
It's also established in leasing agreements tenants signed to live at Covenant House, including one signed by Mae Howard in 2015.
The lease states "The landlord, Millennia Companies, agrees to regularly clean all common areas of the project, maintain all equipment and appliances in safe and working order, make necessary repairs with reasonable promptness and provide extermination services as necessary."
Call 11 for Action also requested reports from the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department from when Howard started having trouble in 2018 to 2023.
16 reports detail issues.
13 tenants reported roaches, bed bugs and other vermin, like mice and rats, with one tenant reporting, "the building is infested... and nothing is being done about it."
There are four reports of excessive trash. One tenant described trash, "all over the building, the chute overflowing."
One person stated Millennia refuses to "empty the dumpsters."
Another tenant said they called several times about the building which has, "feces in the stairwell," and "a horrible odor."
A tenant said the landlord had not taken care of a problem with raw sewage in someone's apartment coming up through the tub and toilet, soaking the carpets, "for three weeks."
Call 11 for Action also reviewed violations to Toledo's fire code, provided by Toledo Fire and Rescue for the same time period.
Documents show eight violations, including for a missing fire extinguisher, an open electrical box in a hallway, a broken exit sign and low batteries in smoke detectors.
Six were corrected before a re-inspection.
The Better Business Bureau has given a D- grade on its website.
It also shows 34 complaints in the last three years and one out of five stars for customer reviews.
Willie Barber is moving out of Covenant House. He's sick of the roaches.
Mae Howard likely won't return due to her stroke and Robert Valdez will stay, but also knows some things will never change.
"That's the way the system is designed for poor people to stay poor and the rich people to get richer."