AKRON, Ohio — Last week, we shared the story of an Akron woman left dealing with the aftermath of her entire living room and dining room ceiling collapsing as she and her children slept in other rooms, with little response from the property. Since then, News 5 has learned she is not alone—and these issues have been felt around the community.
We don’t just report the initial story—we follow through to its conclusion. Read and watch our previous reporting on this story below and see more stories that we've followed through on here.
Monique Sales also lives in Wilbeth Arlington Homes and has for the past 10 years. She and her seven children have dealt with numerous issues around their apartment. Sales said all of her neighbors have too.
"A lot of my neighbors can't lock their doors. They can't close their doors. Like me, I don't have air, so I have to have my doors open," Sales said. "The screen that they gave me, the 'equivalent to a real screen,' flies stay in here because I don't have screens in the windows and things like this. It's just a lot of things that we are required to have that we don't have."
Sales showed us her apartment and the issues that were ongoing. She pointed to mold in her bathroom. She showed how she washes her dishes from a plastic bucket because her sink has issues that have not been repaired.
The issues inside her home have left her feeling depressed and forgotten.
"It's very depressing. It's very depressing," Sales said. "We're falling through the cracks, I guess. I know it's low-income housing, but they have safe environments. They're safe. Their homes are free of mold and everything else. Why can't we? They're making it hard. We pay rent; our rent is not cheap living here at all—so why do we have to be treated as a bare minimum?"
We reached out to the City of Akron and the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority about the numerous complaints that tenants of Wilbeth Arlington Homes have shared with us since the initial story of the ceiling collapse.
AMHA explained, in a statement, that the property was sold to private ownership in 2021.
Wilbeth-Arlington Homes was sold to Redwood on 2/28/21 and is managed by KMG Prestige. The residents at Wilbeth-Arlington are no longer affiliated with AMHA as of 3/1/2021.
We've reached out to KMG Prestige numerous times in the past two weeks—nine phone calls to be exact. We've left two voicemails and even more messages with the apartment's office and a third-party answering service.
The property ownership has not responded.
With the property under private ownership, Sean Vollmer, Deputy Mayor for Integrated Development, said there's only so much the city can do but suggested residents call the 3-1-1 Call Center.
"Based on specific complaints, they can do an inspection and follow up with the private property owner, but it is a private property," Vollmer said.
Sales has been bringing the issues around Wilbeth Arlington Homes to as many people in power as she can. She and a tenant organization even took their complaints to Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C.
"I started the tenant organization in the Wilbeth due to what was going on in my apartment. So they chose me and another person from the Wilbeth to go to D.C. to try to fight for what we are supposed to have," Sales said. 'When we went to D.C., we talked to Marcia Fudge. I talked to Emilia Sykes...nothing has really been done since; there is a lot of promises."
Sales has been hearing issues from her neighbors about the problems they've had around their apartments, from other ceiling damage to plumbing, doors not working, electrical issues and a slew of other issues.
She plans to go back to Washington, D.C. and continue seeking answers and action.
"I'm going to fight to the end. And even after I'm gone, I'm fighting for my people that's here, even after that, because something has to be done. For my kids...I don't know if they might have to live here. I'm fighting until something is done," Sales said.
News 5 will continue following through with this story and continue reaching out to KMG Prestige and other city and state leaders looking for answers as well.
