Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

Another tenant who lives in the Richwood Cottages Complex has reached out to The Monroe Dispatch in an effort to bring awareness to the living conditions that they find themselves under. The Monroe Dispatch reported on the living conditions of a previous tenant who spoke anonymously about what she had experienced since she moved into the complex. In an interview with the latest tenant, this reporter heard many of the same living conditions issues, supplementing what others had been saying previously. The tenant had just moved into the apartment complex not too many months ago and said that the condition of the apartment wasn't "in the best condition". One thing that the tenant noticed was how dirty the carpet was. The tenant was told the carpet had been cleaned, but it wasn't. Things would only get worse, the tenant said. When she went to look in the bathroom, the tub was dirty. The tenant said that she cleaned it on her own, but she would soon have other problems in her apartment when she noticed water leaks in the bathroom and kitchen. One of the issues in the kitchen had to do with the stove "making a popping sound" when it began to heat. The tenant said that on one particular occasion, after she had turned the stove on, she left the area "for a second" and suddenly heard a loud sound as if the stove had exploded. She reported it to the management, and all she got was allegedly light humor(laughter) as if stoves can't explode. The tenant believes that the stove should be replaced because the lights on the stove don't come on, nor does it work properly.

The biggest issue expressed by the tenant was the lack of air conditioning in her apartment for her and her kids. As reported last week in The Monroe Dispatch, the seemingly unending wave of heat in the area has been taking its toll on the tenants who live at Richwood Cottages. There have been and continue to be numerous complaints made to management about keeping the units repaired, but according to the tenant, those complaints have fallen on deaf ears. After complaining to management, she said someone came out and "fixed" the air conditioner unit, only for it to break down two days later. She said no one has been back to fix it. She said that the conditions from the heat are making things difficult, especially for her children. She said that management has no problem ensuring that a vacant apartment is "move-in ready" for new tenants, but in the meantime, they have to wait for long periods to get anything fixed for themselves. She even said there are times when the manager will not be available in the office, allegedly not wanting to talk to the tenants about their concerns. She said that the complex has a new maintenance man replacing the former one, of which many tenants have said they didn't know he had left. Nothing is being done, even with a "new" man to fix things.

The only other option is to move", the tenant said, adding, "If I'd known it was like this, I would never have moved here."