The residents of the house at 454 Burrows Ave. complain that the house’s owner does not pay any attention to the house.
One of the 8 people living in the house, Jeff Sobkowicz, says that they see mould, cockroaches, clogged pipes and impossible dampness.
"We stepped on it and then it was ice," he said. "It was sickening, and what was more sickening was [the owner] didn't care about it. The air quality is terrible."
The house looks awful. It seems that it is under construction because instead of some doors there are mattresses. Sobkowicz said that all 8 people living there pay $600 per month, only he pays $400 since he has a discount from the owner.
The man also added:
"There's no fire extinguishers, there's no fire alarms, there's no smoke detectors — nothing in a rooming house, and that's illegal and I know it is."
Mallory Hood, another person living there, said that it is impossible to live there because of bugs.
"They're everywhere," she said. "Having cockroaches inside the house is just unhealthy."
However, the owner of the house said that he regularly comes to check whether everything is okay and did not notice any problems in the house. When the city checked the building and it became clear that the house was not registered as a residential building, the owner said that most of the residents do not pay the rent.
"I have three people living free. It's not about money. I'm a refugee guy. I'm telling you, three people live in that building free. They don't pay."
Sobkowicz said that for many years he has been in friendly relations with the owner of the house, and he is very grateful to him, but living in such conditions is no longer possible.
"You know what, I love the guy. He's a good friend of mine. He's always been there for me. But this is the one thing that he needs to realize — if he's gonna have these places, they need to be done right," he said. "I'm speaking out on him on behalf of everybody in his houses."
City authorities will get inside of the situation to see what it is possible to do.
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