CLEVELAND — Four dozen tenants living at the Edgewater Park Manor Apartments in Cleveland report they've been dealing with a series of major issues for weeks, which now has them facing an order to vacate complex.
June Lloyd told News 5 the complex now has no heat, no water service and was left with flooding and collapsing walls, after frozen pipes burst on Christmas Day. Lloyd said the boiler at the complex broke down in early December, leaving the property vulnerable to frozen plumbing, causing water to flood the underground parking garage and damage walls and ceilings at the property.
“I chose to try to move out, but I’m still having trouble, because financially I’m not prepared, I wasn’t prepared for all of this," Lloyd said. “It’s been a nightmare, at one point I was sleeping in my car to stay warm."
Megan Parrish, who is a tenant at The Breakers section of the Edgewater Park Manor Apartments said the future for her young daughter and husband is now uncertain. Parrish said her family has been dealing with intermittent heating and water service for weeks and has been continually contacting Overland Properties management for help.
“It’s been horrible, honestly we don’t even know what to do with ourselves," Parrish said. “The garage flooding, it was terrifying, we woke up in a panic, we could hear people screaming downstairs. And then everybody is scrambling to try and get their cars out. It's been a disregard in maintaining apartments, in both public spaces and in our personal spaces."
News 5 reached out to Overland Properties management, and the company responded immediately through its attorney. News 5 was told installation of a new boiler at the complex will begin on Dec. 30, and take about four days to complete. The company said it has offered hotel rooms to displaced tenants, and has given them the option to end their leases so they can move elsewhere at no cost.
The attorney for Overland Properties told News 5 tenants will have rent returned to them for the days the complex had no heat, and will not charge tenants rent for days in January until the complex is once again deemed habitable. The company said it is fully cooperating with Cleveland building and housing inspectors to insure repairs at the complex are proper and safe.
Still, tenants like June Lloyd believe if proper maintenance at the complex was consistently completed none of the issues would have taken place.
"The boilers should have been addressed years ago," Lloyd said. "They shouldn’t have just waited until everything collapsed.”
