Local

Residents complain apartment complex isn't fixing rat problem

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Nearly a dozen residents say they have mold in their apartments, their appliances are falling apart and they say nothing is being done to fix the problems.
 
"They put the 'sluummm' in slum. Y'all ready to go see this crime scene I got in the back of my yard? This is ridiculous," said Renee Grant, when explaining her apartment the Marquis Cove Apartments on Riverdale Road in Clayton County.
 
Only one resident originally called Channel 2 Action News about the apartments and reported that things were not being fixed, but as soon as Channel 2's Craig Lucie and a photographer arrived, residents kept approaching them.
 
"Our apartment and storage unit had feces on the back wall," Jasmine Grover said.
 
A small crowd gathered around the Channel 2 Action News live truck as a security guard and staff members watched. Everybody wanted to show Lucie and his photographer their living conditions.
 
"This area right here is a waste dump," Danielle Willis said. Willis was pointing to an area behind her apartment building where trash is building up in the woods.
 
Willis took Lucie inside her apartment.
 
"I have a rat in my kitchen. They came and put rat traps with peanut butter on them and there's a hole in the back of my stove," Willis says.
 
Willis and others showed Lucie pictures of they describe as mold near their A/C vents.
 
"A dishwasher that is supposed to be brand new in there and I have to lift it out of the wall to wash my dishes and pour water in it for it to run," Grant said.
 
Lucie went inside the leasing office and asked a manager about Willis' complaints.
 
"She hasn't reported these issues to us, and we would never be neglectful. We will have our maintenance team rectify the issues the minute we hear about them and we are always concerned about the safety of our residents. If there are rats in the apartment that may not be a condition of the apartment itself, which could be a housekeeping issue," said the Star Residential manager.
 
Willis and other residents disagree with that statement.
 
"I don't think safety is their biggest concern. Our back door doesn't lock -- told them a month and half ago," Glover said.
 
Willis told Lucie she has one request.
 
"I want them to break my lease. I shouldn't have to break my lease for these things to go on my credit," Willis said.