DETROIT, Mich. — A tenant at City Place Detroit apartments says a roach problem made her new home unlivable — and she moved out just four days after moving in.
Watch Ruta's story in the video player below:
Micha Nunn recently moved to Detroit for work. She was excited about the opportunity, but not about what she says she found the day she moved into her one-bedroom apartment at City Place Detroit.
"I moved in the 19th of October, my first night inside of my apartment was full of roaches," Nunn said. "I went into the bathroom, I looked down inside of my bathmat, they were crawling all in my bathmat. It was so bad to the point where I couldn't even take a shower."
Nunn moved out just days later, but reached out to 7 News Detroit about the problem, knowing that her former neighbors are still going through the same issues. She told us about one conversation she had with a neighbor right before she left.
“The last day that I was there I had inquired if [the neighbor] had them and he had said they were crawling inside of his kitchen and they were crawling inside of his refrigerator," Nunn said.
We spoke to a current tenant off camera who — just like Nunn — says a professional pest control company does come by to spray the units. In fact, 7 News Detroit saw one on the property Thursday. However, tenants say the efforts aren't working.
"When it comes to at least my unit, I've seen absolutely no effect on it, maybe for a day after it's happened," one tenant said.
Nunn adds that she saw crews spray her new apartment unit, and still, the pests returned, infesting her unit.
"I watched them spray, like take out the stove, take out the refrigerator, spray all in the creases, next morning they're crawling in my bathroom and crawling on the walls in my bedroom," Nunn said.
We reached out to City Place Detroit. VP of Property Management, Jamie-Lynn Huitema, released the following statement:
"We take all pest-related concerns seriously and have an established process in place to address them promptly.
We retain a professional pest control contractor who is engaged whenever a concern is reported within a unit. At our expense, the contractor attends to assess and treat the affected unit as required. As an additional preventative measure, we also arrange treatment of adjacent units, as well as routinely address garbage rooms and common areas to help minimize the potential for pest activity and prevent issues from developing or spreading.
We are proactive in addressing reported concerns and take the necessary steps to protect our residents and maintain our properties.
We also recognize that effective pest management requires cooperation from residents. Where housekeeping or cleanliness concerns, failure to follow professional treatment instructions, or other resident behaviours contribute to pest activity, we address these matters directly and hold residents accountable for their responsibilities under the lease. This includes issuing formal notices and, where warranted and legally appropriate, pursuing further enforcement measures.
We take these matters seriously and expect residents to cooperate fully with treatment protocols to ensure that our efforts are effective and that the well-being of neighbouring residents is not compromised.
However, to characterize the situation as an infestation is an excessive and inaccurate representation of the circumstances. Individual pest concerns do not, in themselves, constitute an infestation, particularly when appropriate professional treatment and preventative measures are being implemented.
We will continue to address any reported concerns promptly and appropriately, as we have been doing."
Tenants say they hope speaking out will bring attention to the conditions and lead to additional action from management.
"I guess time will tell what they actually do about it, but let's just hope that this brings attention to the matter at least," a tenant said.
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