BALTIMORE — Imagine waking up to rats running around where you live, or seeing mold on the carpet, water damage to the ceiling and walls. These are just a few of the issues people are living with at an apartment building in Northwest Baltimore.
And it's been going on for quite some time, but it finally looks like some light at the end of the tunnel.
People living in the Walker-Daniels Apartment building have been calling out for help for over a year, with concerns not only for their health but also their safety. They've heard nothing but silence from the previous property management company.
Now the owners of the property have stepped up.
"As it stands now, ownership has now taken possession and we're just trying to sort everything out,” said owner Keith Thompson.
It's an issue that has been going on for far too long, rats, mold, leaking water and security concerns. The owner of the Walker-Daniel Apartments says he didn't even know about some of these problems.
"We get reports every month, so looking at the reports and looking at what's happening has not been consistent,” said Thompson.
Towner Management Company were the previous property managers.
PAST: Towner Management working to address issues at the Walker-Daniels House
Thompson says they terminated their contract back in December.
He says the monthly reports didn't address major issues that have been happening at 2100 Madison Avenue.
Thompson says the same response was given every month,"That they were correcting the problems of the tenants."
Putting their trust into the property managers on what they were reporting, he says gave them no reason to step in.
"If you think your management is competent enough and you got a good relationship with them then you don't question them, you think everything is taken care of,” said Thompson.
But that wasn't the case. The city has issued several citations on the property.
"We have fines and citations that haven't been abated yet,” said councilman James Torrence.
13 citations on this property over the past year, to be exact, resulting in a total of $3,400.
Torrence is the councilman for that district. He's been working with the Department of Housing and Community Development to address the unsafe living conditions.
"Getting the immediate health issues addressed right away, such as the dumpster overflow which leads to rats, working elevator where we've had other agencies come in and access it,” said councilman Torrence for District 7.
But much more must be done. Now that the owners have stepped in, Thompson says his first order of business has been to secure all the doors for safety, then he will be addressing all the complaints that the tenants have filed.
"Right now we are assessing everything so hopefully by next week we can start doing some repairs,” said Thompson.
Torrence says he will be going back out this week with housing and development to speak with tenants and take a look inside some of the apartments. Thompson says he has connected with the councilman Monday on the issue.
As for the fines, Thompson says they'll be paying them immediately.
