CLEVELAND — Stacey Lozada was enjoying her day at home until she heard scratching coming from the walls. She immediately walked throughout her house to figure out where the sound was coming from. Once she was on the second floor, she began hearing thumping on the roof.
“When I made my way towards the furnace, I opened the door very carefully, and that's when I heard screeching and fighting. I immediately got startled. I ran downstairs, went to the kitchen in hopes that I can grab ... some baby food for my baby. That's when I started hearing the scratching on the ceilings in the kitchen, and I immediately picked up my baby. I left the house with no diapers and no clothes,“ Lozada said.
With her five-month-old son on her hip, she immediately went to the side of the home to see if she could find the source of the noise on the roof.
“Shortly after, there was a raccoon peeking out of a hole in the damaged chimney, and I grabbed my camera and said, 'Oh my gosh, it’s a raccoon.' And eventually, I saw more than three roaming around on the roof,” Lozada said.
Lozada says she immediately notified her landlord.
“She didn't respond at first. I sent her text messages, I sent her alerts through the portal, and her response was little to none," Lozada said.
Eventually, Lozada’s landlord informed her that they had submitted a work order with the animal nuisance company, which would set traps for the raccoons once they had availability.
“That, to me, means there is no time frame, so my response to her was 'Where am I going to go? What am I supposed to do with my child?'" Lozada said.
In response, the landlord told her that if raccoons are in the walls, they will not come into the house, but according to Barbara Reitzloff, the supervising attorney in the housing practice group at the Legal Aid Society, that statement is not true.
“The fact is, raccoons are strong, and they can tear open walls, and they can also spread diseases even if they're not physically in the unit. So, they're making the property unsafe for the tenants. So, it doesn't matter if they're in the walls and not in the living room,” Reitzloff said.
With no family in the area, Lozada was forced to sleep in her car for three days.
“I had to alternate from the back seat to the front seat and just recline the back seat to sleep with my baby. It's not something that you want to endure right after giving birth. You want to be at peace, you want to enter a home, and you want to feel as if you have nothing to worry about. But to be in a place where I must be in a car and you don't know what can happen to you when you're in the car, it’s scary,” Lozada said.
Which Reitzloff says is unacceptable.
“State law says they've got to keep the property in fit and habitable condition. So, as soon as these animals show up, it's time for the landlord to step in. They still should be putting the tenant up somewhere. They could put her up in a hotel and then work something out with reducing the rent for that period,” Reitzloff said.
Tuesday morning, five days after she noticed the raccoons, an inspector was able to come to the home and trap three baby raccoons on the roof.
“For them to catch three baby ones, that definitely raises awareness that the house is definitely their home, it's their nest,” Lozada said.
Out of fear of contracting a disease, Lozada does not want to move back into the home. She says she plans to get a lawyer and use this opportunity to advocate for other Section 8 holders.
“Since I’m a part of Section 8, they're getting their portion of the rent either way, so I feel like I am being treated like a minority. So, I want to encourage people in my situation to be the voice for your children, be the voice for yourself and know your rights as a tenant. I do not want people to endure what I've endured and went through the challenges that I went through with my child,” Lozada said.
I reached out to the management company Summer House Legacy for comment. They told me the situation was being handled and had no further comment on Lozada’s living situation.
