A new inspection of the Englewood Apartments off Waukomis Drive this week by the City of Kansas City showed very little improvement in conditions and some new problems as well.
On Monday, Sept. 9 inspectors re-inspected units and found water leaks, mold and cockroaches. More than half of the apartments originally inspected were checked and only one had its violations corrected.
One building was immediately vacated in early September due to what Fowler called “potentially life threatening” conditions inside.
Additionally, inspectors launched three new complaint investigations and found 10 additional violations.
Dan Fowler, who represents Platte County on the Kansas City Council, accompanied city health department, members of the Kansas City Fire Department and federal housing representatives on a surprise inspection on Friday, Aug. 30.
“What we witnessed was absolutely disgusting, potentially life threatening and now, officially illegal,” Fowler said. “In one building it was raining cockroaches when we walked in the door, sewage had backed up and we were walking through human feces. In several apartments, we found extensive mold and water damage, falling ceilings and exposed electrical wiring — all of which at minimum are health hazards; at worst, life endangering.”
In mid-August, the City of Kansas City expanded its Healthy Homes Rental Inspection Program to include federally-subsidized housing such as Englewood Apartments. As such, city officials immediately vacated one building in the complex and ordered Millenia Housing Management — the owner of the complex — to house 10 families in nearby hotels at the management’s expense.
The situation is similar to one in August 2018 at the same complex, where Fowler and other authorities visited the complex and found falling ceilings, black mold and other life-threatening problems.
Only apartments where people answered the door were inspected by the city, Fowler said. HUD will inspect every unit to check for other violations.
“We found stuff worse than last year,” Fowler said. “They are doing absolutely nothing. They are letting them deteriorate. We thought things were going fairly well, but a little voice in my head was saying, I bet they aren’t taking care of the existing buildings. I wondered what they were doing.”
Another re-inspection will happen in five business days and then another five business after that. If after three visits the issues aren’t resolved, Fowler said a health order would be issued to vacate the property without a written, formalized plan to address the code violations.
Residents have reported maintenance problems for years in the decades-old apartment complex owned by a Cleveland, Ohio-based company.
“No one should ever be exposed to — much less forced to pay rent for the privilege of living in such squalid conditions,” Fowler said. “This entire situation is unacceptable, and Millennia must make it right.”
Millenia was given a week to fix more minor problems found in several buildings, such as missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and mold. The worst building will take much longer to fix. It will remain closed until the health and safety violations are abated.
Management said the complex is undergoing a renovation, but recent reports have also shown those projects are several months behind schedule.
The Englewood Apartments closure is the first use of the city’s Healthy Homes ordinance, with 115 violations found at the complex.
“Low income housing is not supposed to be low standard housing,” Fowler said. “Every renter in our city is entitled to safe living conditions – and we will continue to hold landlords and management companies accountable.”