The southern Platte County apartment complex that has been in the headlines for the last two years due to squalid conditions is now in hot water with the federal government.
The Englewood Apartments off Waukomis Drive were named in a report released earlier this month by the Office of the Inspector General for Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The report found multiple problems and demanded Englewood owner Millennia Housing Management repay $400,000 in fraudulent subsidies.
Concerns cited include collection of subsidies from a resident after her death, including the forgery of her signature on certification documents, failure to sign sexual offender monitoring forms, missing files, improper deduction calculations and more.
The complex has been undergoing renovation due to the condition of the aging buildings, some of which were evacuated about a year ago by the City of Kansas City.
In August and September 2019, city inspectors found squalid conditions including water and sewage leaks, mold and massive cockroach infestations.
Dan Fowler, who represents Platte County on the Kansas City Council, accompanied inspectors on inspections in 2018 and 2019.
“What we witnessed was absolutely disgusting, potentially life threatening and now, officially illegal,” Fowler said last summer. “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.”
Englewood Apartments were part of the spark that created the Healthy Homes Rental Inspection Program, which was expanded last year to include federally-subsidized housing such as Englewood Apartments. The Englewood Apartments closure was the first use of the city’s Healthy Homes ordinance, with 115 violations found at the complex.
City officials vacated one building and ordered Millennia to house 10 families in nearby hotels at the management’s expense.
Residents have reported maintenance problems for years in the decades-old apartment complex owned by the Cleveland, Ohio-based Millennia. Management said the complex is undergoing a renovation, but those projects are months behind schedule.
In August 2018 authorities visited the complex and found falling ceilings, black mold and other life-threatening problems.