Tenants living at a Cleveland apartment building said they have been dealing with power outages and gas leaks that sent fire inspectors to the scene.
Tenants told newsnet5.com the multiple unit building at East 128 is filled with code violations that caused electric service to cut-off during this northeast Ohio heat wave.
We found tenants using a series of extension cords to bring in power from adjoining buildings.
Tenant Walter Thomas is legally blind and said a gas leak inside his unit put him at risk, causing him to move-in with his mother.
Thomas said he contacted the Red Cross for help and when they arrived on the scene he said he was told the unit was uninhabitable.
Thomas said building owner Vonette Lovelace has done little to repair numerous safety issues.
"Like nothing got solved, no issues, none of that," said Thomas. "I called the electric company numerous times to come out and see what the problem was. She refused to even open the door and see what the problem was."
newsnet5.com contacted Cleveland fire and building inspectors after we confirmed the code violations.
We also contacted Lovelace and her daughter Shandra by telephone.
Lovelace admitted the building has issues, and claimed the the gas and electrical problems have been solved since NewsChannel 5 got involved with this case 5 days ago.
Lovelace said she is working building inspectors to make things better at her units, and pledged to let Thomas out of his lease, refund his security deposit and hundreds in rent over the next few days.
NewsChannel 5 and newsnet5.com will follow-up on this developing story.
