Franklin Place Apartments resident Lillian Rork is having to move after her rent was raised around $150. Rork hasnմ had carpet in her apartment for some time after a sewage backed-up.
SCOTT ROBERSON | DAILY JOURNAL
From the outside, the westside Franklin apartment complex looks neglected, with broken balconies and window screens, partially detached support beams, chipping paint, potholes and an overflowing dumpster.
But residents say the worst health and safety concerns are inside their apartments.
Franklin Place residents have repeatedly asked property managers to take action, wanting nothing more than healthy and safe living quarters.
Twice in the past three years, sewage backed up into Darwin Stannard and his mother, Connie Dulik’s, apartment, leaving behind mold.
The sewage backups brought foul, feces-laden water in through their toilet and bathtub twice, and they are concerned the problem might never be corrected for good, they said.
On Oct. 8, the day of the most recent sewage backup, Stannard had to call 911 to get the complex, owned by Herman and Kittle Properties, an Indianapolis-based multi-family housing company, to respond to the emergency flooding situation. That was after 12 hours of waiting for the property manager to respond via their emergency contact information, he said.
While the immediate problem stemming from the sewage backup appears to be fixed, Stannard, Dulik and their neighbors are still walking around on partially cement floors. Carpet that was ruined by the sewer water has not been replaced. The flooring presents a tripping hazard for Dulik, who is on oxygen, she said.
A representative from Herman and Kittle said this week the flooring had been replaced in three apartments, but as of Wednesday, the flooring in at least two apartments had not been repaired.
“Franklin Place did experience a recent sewer backup. The property manager acted promptly to engage a vendor to clear the blockage and remove affected materials to prevent contamination or mildew/mold growth,” said Laurren Brown, corporate communications manager at Herman and Kittle. “In addition, we promptly replaced the flooring in affected apartments. There is one apartment where we have been unable to re-install new flooring because the elderly resident does not have help to move her things. We have obtained quotes and are paying the contractor to move her belongings.”
Stannard and Dulik, nor their next-door neighbor, have been approved for help moving their stuff, they said Wednesday.
The Johnson County Health Department is involved. Health inspectors followed up on the issues Stannard reported at the time of the sewage backup, and got some clarity this week about when the carpeting issue would be resolved, said Betsy Swearingen, health department director. Property managers told the health department the plan is to rip out all of the remaining carpet and replace it with vinyl flooring by this weekend.
“I’m not a complainer, but this has been going on for way too long. These residents are desperate for help,” Stannard said.
Residents can submit maintenance work orders online, by phone, in person, by email, on paper or by text, Brown said.
Former resident Nadine Scott had three major water issues in the 10 months she lived at Franklin Place. The leaks were not cleaned up properly, and mold grew in the apartment, she said. Due the amount and intensity of the mold, Scott’s family reported the issues to the county health department.
At least one family member had developed breathing problems stemming from the mold, according to a report filed with the health department.
Scott sent more than 18 emails and a number of Facebook messages detailing her family’s requests to fix the mold issues and an air conditioning problem she said had not been resolved when she was evicted in September.
“It has been hell,” Scott said. “And we are not the only ones who have suffered here.”
Other tenants say the gutters are overflowing with debris, causing rainwater to gush onto them when they enter or leave their apartments during a rainstorm. Several also reported raccoons that skitter around between the roof and their ceiling and are sometimes seen outside near where children play.
“These apartments are 25 or 26 years old now. When I moved in, it was nice,” Dulik said. “Franklin is too nice of a place to let this happen.”
The health department has received several complaints about the raccoons. The complex and the health department have been working on solutions to get rid of them, but it is still a work in progress, Swearingen said.
The raccoons are hard to get rid of because there are trees near the buildings that the animals use to climb into the buildings. The nearby, overflowing dumpsters also create an environment that attracts raccoons, she said.
A roll-off dumpster has been the subject of multiple complaints to the health department, reports show.
It is emptied once a week. The trash accumulated there is taken from empty apartments after they are vacated, Brown said.
According to Herman and Kittle, all complaints submitted to the property by the health department have been resolved. But the health department has not received confirmation that many of the issues are resolved, though in several cases health inspectors were assured over the phone that the problem was going to be fixed, Swearingen said.
The health department can take further action if there are certain health and safety problems that make a property unlivable, such as lack of proper sanitation, pests on the property and lack of heating and air conditioning.
When a complaint is made, a health inspector examines the unit experiencing the problem and submits a request for repairs to the property owner. Landlords typically submit proof that the health department’s work order is completed, but that largely hasn’t happened with Franklin Place, Swearingen said.
Since the complaints are being addressed, albeit slowly, the health department has no plans to pursue legal action at this point, she said.
For the most severe cases, such as a sewage backup, the health inspector calls the property manager to make sure immediate action is being taken. In the case of the most recent sewage incident, the inspector called and was assured the property manager was working on it, the report says.
When The Daily Journal brought it to health department’s attention that the problem was not fully resolved, the inspector reached out to the property manager again on Wednesday, and received an update about plans to repair the impacted apartments, Swearingen said.
She encourages anyone who is experiencing problems like these to reach out to the county health department, as they are unable to search for health safety violations on their own.
