DETROIT – A Detroit mother says she and her two young children have been forced to live elsewhere or in unsafe conditions for nearly a month due to constant flooding inside her apartment — and now, she and her mother says they’ve had enough.
Raven Carter, a resident at Lexington Village Apartments in Detroit, and her mother, Judy Terry, spoke with Local 4 about what they describe as an ongoing nightmare inside her unit.
“It’s been hell,” Terry said when asked how the last few weeks have been. “I’m very pissed. Very upset. I am disappointed. It’s been one disaster after another.”
Raven said she has been staying with her mother because water has been coming in through multiple parts of the apartment, including the ceiling and vents. In one of the most alarming incidents, they said the fuse box began smoking and sparking, prompting a call to the fire department.
“The fuse box was smoking — now that’s a new problem,” Terry said. Raven said firefighters were forced to shut off power to the unit.
“She couldn’t live here for the last three weeks,” Judy told Local 4’s Erika Erickson.
Raven claims the situation has only been made worse by how the apartment office has responded: she said they told her they don’t have a manager and they call her names.
“Basically stupid and r*****ed. I don’t think that’s a good thing to call anybody,” Raven said. “I pay rent just like everybody else.”
During a visit to the apartment, Local 4 confirmed water was still coming through parts of the ceiling and ventilation system. We found it difficult to even shoot video in spots, because it was dripping all over us.
Judy said she’s frustrated by how often she’s had to intervene on her daughter’s behalf because she said “the negligence of the complex” has “inconvenienced” the entire family.”
“I’m sick of people taking advantage of [Raven],” she said. “And then I have to come running. So what happens when I’m not here anymore? Who’s gonna fight for her?”
Local 4 attempted to speak with staff at the front office of Lexington Village Apartments.
“I’ve walked in that office and I’ve had words with them as well,” Judy said.
When approached by Local 4, apartment staff declined to comment and instead directed us to contact their corporate office. When we called the number, a representative claimed they could not locate Carter’s address in their database.
“Well, it exists. We were there and this is the number they gave us to call,” we said.
Eventually, we were transferred to another woman’s voicemail, and we left a message there. We called again later in the day.
City officials said the apartment complex is putting Raven up in a hotel and are expecting to send out an inspector Friday.