Residents of Ypsilanti apartment complex livid at rundown living conditions

YPSILANTI, Mich. (FOX 2) -
Residents living in a rundown apartment complex in Ypsilanti say they are stuck between a bad landlord and being forced onto the streets.

Reica McGuire says she has lived at the Arbor One apartment complex in Ypsilanti for a year and a half in horrid conditions.

"Supervisor Bob told me he was going to send a plumber over here to fix this," she said, showing off a toilet in disrepair.

That never happened - and yet she continues to pay her $1098 a month rent.

Dig deeper:

FOX 2: "Why is it so hot in here?"

"Because I had to turn the stove on to stay warm," she said. "I don’t have any heat."

For how long?

"About three or four months," McGuire said.

Edwina Harris' apartment inside the same Arbor One complex has similar issues.
   
"There’s a big hole in the wall and this comes straight off," she said, as her bathtub water levers detached.

Next, she opened her dishwasher - which wasn't draining properly.

"You see all the damn standing water in there," Harris said.  "It sucks."

Some of the apartments there have a yellow sticker put on by the Ypsilanti building inspector saying the owner does not have a valid certificate of compliance.

"There are a lot of problems," said Annie Sommerville.

On Monday, officials from Washtenaw County arrived in a bus outside the complex to inform tenants how to challenge the landlord in court.

"Your heat should hold (at) 68° in the winter and that if you have sewage back up, that’s also not okay," said Somerville, a Washtenaw County commissioner.

The other side:

FOX 2 tried to get a comment from the property manager or the ownership.

"I'm not going to make any comment for the ownership," said an employee.

FOX 2: "Can I talk to the ownership?"

At that point, the office door was closed.

What's next:

A number of tenants have been taken to court for nonpayment of rent, but there is a procedure for tenants to follow.

"They tell us we have to put it into an escrow account and leave it in escrow, and then you start getting eviction notices and stuff like that," said resident Dean Hellerud.

FOX 2: "That is the law, isn't it?"

"That is the law."

Sadly, residents like McGuire says she doesn't have many options.

FOX 2: "Why do you stay?"

"Because I have nowhere else to go right away," she said.