Petersburg East residents speak out about poor living conditions, management ‘didn’t care’

PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) -- Residents of Petersburg East Apartments said management hasn't acted when it comes to their issues with mold, sewage and pests.

Petersburg City Councilman Marlow Jones said the apartment complex has multiple code violations issued by the city, but tenants said building management still does not care.

Latasha Jackson is a resident, and she said after her toilet overflowed with sewage and flooded her apartment, leasing office staff did not see the issue as urgent.

She waited nearly ten days after the flooding on July 6th, and she said building maintenance still had not made repairs or even cleaned her unit. On July 15th, she called city code enforcement.

When officials inspected her apartment, they found multiple issues beyond the flooding damage, including cracks in the ceilings, holes in the walls and damage to her front door. That day the city issued a notice of violation, marking Jackson's apartment as unfit for habitation.

The violation gave Petersburg East two weeks to fix the issues, or face legal proceedings -- including civil fines.

Jackson said she had nowhere to live during this time, and it wasn't until recently that the building management moved her into a new unit.

She said from what she can tell, repairs were never made on her previous apartment.

"I felt like they didn't care," Jackson said about management's response to her issues.

"It's been very frustrating," Jackson said. She said during this situation she's also been fighting cancer, and living in unhealthy conditions. Then, being displaced affected her physical and mental health.

"My doctor has actually boosted up my medication for my anxieties, my PTSD, my depression," Jackson said. "It's just been tough."

Councilman Jones said he got involved after hearing issues like Jackson's from many other tenants.

He said no one deserves to live in these conditions, and management needs to do something about it.

"These people have went to management multiple times, and nothing happened," Jones said. He recounted stories from tenants that dealt with snakes and rats in their units, as well as others that experienced sewage issues like Jackson.

"Council's stance on it is this: we don't want to put anybody out, we don't want to shut the complex down or nothing like that. But we do want a safe environment and a habitable space for the people," Jones said.

8News spoke with one of the managers at Peterburg East, who said that since she took over three months ago, all work orders have been rectified.

She did not respond to the allegations of unresolved code violations.

At the time of reporting, 8News is still working to obtain records for all the violations at the complex.