'We're not OK:' Residents in Westgate Gardens left to clean up after flooding

LORAIN — Days after heavy rains poured water into basement apartments in Westgate Gardens, residents are still cleaning up the mess. Mykkayla Davis stood in her apartment Monday afternoon surveying the water damage. She estimated she'd done about six loads of laundry, and was worried about using the outlets in the wall after rainwater stood several inches high at its peak. She'd come home from work Wednesday to water coming in from her neighbor's apartment and the building's boiler room, but it wasn't much, she said. She put a towel down and left for her fiance's apartment, only to come home Thursday morning to almost ankle-deep water. "I had cords that were in the water, which scared the hell out of me," she said. Days later her apartment floor was still damp in places and the baseboard had started to peel off the wall. Her refrigerator also stopped working, leaving her food to spoil. "We're not OK," she said. She said she'd gone to the on-site manager's office, but was told it was up to her to clean up the damage. Maintenance hadn't come to check on or replace her refrigerator either, she said, and no one had checked where the boiler room — locked to residents — had gotten water. Staff at the manager's office referred The Chronicle-Telegram to a phone number for the property management group's corporate office in Columbus. A message left at the provided number was not returned. The building is managed by Wallick, a Columbus-based company focusing on affordable and senior housing management. An email inquiry sent to the company's senior vice president of affordable housing was forwarded to Murphy Epson, a public relations company. In a statement, Stephanie Tresso with Murphy Epson said: "The management team at Westgate Gardens and Pearl Village Apartments takes its responsibility to provide clean, safe and decent homes for all residents very seriously. Due to a pending change in the property management team at these communities, any comments or updates about the status of the flooding remediation and any other inquiries will need to be directed to the owners, Green National, as Wallick is exiting its contract." Green National could not be reached Tuesday. The phone number and website for the company were not valid. The company has come under legal fire according to a press release from the New York Attorney General's office. According to the news release, Green National and its owner, Troy Green, had a court order issued against them in July for failing to address significant code violations at several Syracuse properties. That court order required Green to pay $152,000 in criminal contempt fines, $250 in civil contempt fines, banned him from owning, operating or managing affordable housing properties in New York state and required Green National to pay $299,000 in penalties. Green National was also fined $5,000 for "engaging in deceptive business practices and falsely advertising that their rental properties were clean, safe and well-kept and that their business focus was on cleaner, safer and sustainable communities," according to the news release. Westgate Gardens and its sister property, Pearl Village, are low-income housing complexes. Both properties transferred to new LLCs last fall. According to the Lorain County Auditor's online records, Pearl Village sold for $4.8 million, transferring from WG Pearl Village LLC to WG Pearl Village OH TC LLC. Similarly, Westgate Gardens sold for $3.1 million, transferring from WG Westgate Gardens LLC to WG Westgate Gardens OH TC LLC. The tax bills for both complexes are mailed to an office in Chicago. Davis' neighbors were also at a loss Monday, after spending the weekend cleaning and surveying damage. With another neighbor translating from Spanish, Evonne Rivera said she'd had to spend $270 on a dehumidifier to try to dry her space out, but said it still smells "wet." Much of Rivera's apartment was in cardboard boxes and plastic totes before the storm — as she and her neighbors were told months ago they were going to be moved into another building so theirs could be renovated, Davis and Rivera said. But as of Monday, they still hadn't moved, and even after the storm didn't receive an update from management on when they would be relocated. In Bonita Sato's apartment across the hall, she said through another neighbor translating from Spanish that a mix of rainwater and sewage had backed up into her unit. Maria Baez, who translated for Rivera and Sato, said she hadn't seen flooding that bad in the complex since the mid-2000s when heavy storms flooded Lorain and drowned an elderly couple trapped in their car under the West 21st Street underpass. Westgate Gardens and Pearl Village have been on the city's radar long before last week's flooding. In late 2022 complaints of trash piling up at both properties prompted Councilman Rey Carrion, D-6th Ward, and the Friends of South Lorain civic group to rent dumpsters and clear trash that had piled for an estimated six weeks. Davis said the flooding wasn't the first complaint she'd had. In the almost three years she'd lived in her apartment she'd gone winters without heat and after a pipe burst above her was left with a bulging portion of damaged drywall in the bathroom ceiling. She couldn't open her windows to air out her unit, as maintenance had removed the screens with a promise to replace them that never came. On Monday, Mayor Jack Bradley said the city's building department has been in contact with and cited the property owners. Bradley said in speaking to Chief Building Official David Faciana, both complexes would be under a new property manager, ABC Management, come Oct. 1. "We're going to be sending all notices of violations to the owners rep with court dates and we were told things are going to change since the new management company is gone and they have a new one in place. And Dave Faciana from our building department is going to stay on top of them." He suggested residents impacted by the flooding contact 211 for assistance. Bradley said Faciana was told Westgate Gardens was already cleaning out units on Monday. "The only way we can hold them accountable is to cite them and send them to court," Bradley said. Citations against Westgate Gardens and Peal Village were not immediately available Tuesday. A call to Councilman Cory Shawver, D-7th Ward, where Westgate Gardens is located, was not returned Monday. Standing outside their apartments in the small hallway space that had been filled with nearly a foot of water less than a week prior, Davis, Sato, Rivera and Baez agreed they wanted action from the property manager. "Honestly, I just want them to do their job," Davis said of Wallick. "I feel like they just want money at this point. It's not about making sure that the people that live here are being taken care of. It's about making sure that they get their cut of the money." Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.