INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indianapolis woman says she’s worried about her health and safety because of the condition of the apartment she’s living in, and that the health department can’t inspect because of her landlord.
Lovie Gibson has been living at the Shadeland Court Apartments since April. In that short time, she’s recorded numerous maintenance problems that she says aren’t being addressed, including non-working water, mold and broken air conditioning units.
Gibson says she has documented each of her problems with photos and video.
“I have a clog in my sink because it doesn’t work,” said Gibson. “My toilet never stops running. I have no cold water and no hot water. They still haven’t come to fix the windows.”
And that’s just on the inside of her apartment.
“There's unsafe buildings,” Gibson said. “Our kids can’t even play outside because the wood and the foundation is falling apart. We don’t know if they’re going to fall through the floor.”
Marion County Public Health Officials say they believe there are health hazards at the property, but they can’t inspect it because the matter is currently in court.
“The health department, we’re not able to get that kind of help because we have a landlord who has told them that they’re not allowed on our property,” said Gibson.
During RTV6’s interview with Gibson on Friday, Property Manager Richard Parient showed up and demanded that we stop recording – but minutes later he agreed to go on camera, saying he doesn’t know anything about installed inspections or unsafe conditions.
“The health department is welcome to come out anytime they want,” said Parient. “We told them that, we emailed them that.”
He said he has nothing to hide, and they are working to fix any issues the tenants may be having.
“They will find units that are 100 percent perfect,” said Parient. “They will find units that are not 100 percent perfect. We are a work in progress and we’re trying to improve ourselves every day.”
Curt Brantingham with the Marion County Public Health Department says his office is working to resolve the issues, and they can begin as soon as the department is granted a court order to inspect the complex.
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