- August 26, 2019
St. Louis County has given the owners of Windham Chase Apartments a deadline to fix violations that residents of the complex say are “unlivable conditions”.
Octavia Cole has been living in a unit at Windham Chase Apartments for around two years. For the past several months, she said that her asthma has been triggered by mold growing in her apartment.
“Mold is actually one of my biggest triggers that will cause me to have an asthma attack,” Cole said. “I didn’t even know this was going on and I’m thinking all these asthma attacks I’ve been having lately and my daughter having to be treated could be from the mold.”
According to Cold, she has been putting in work orders with the Windham Chase property manager, but nothing was done about the problem. As a matter of fact, Cole says that there were weeks when there was no property manager at all, which made things throughout the complex get worse.
Not long ago, a portion of a ceiling fell on an elderly woman who was living in the same apartment complex.
When county inspectors visited the complex, they found that there were violations in 15 buildings.
A local news station investigated even further and found that violations had been issued several months ago regarding maintenance and sanitation issues. Inspectors for St. Louis County found “organic growth” in the buildings.
“It smells of raw feces. I have mold coming through my vent, me and my daughter have asthma chronically, so we shouldn’t be bringing these in,” Cole said.
Several reporters for a local news station attempted to reached out to TEH Realty, the company that owns Windham Chase Apartments, as well as several other complexes throughout St. Louis, but they never received an answer.
“We are unable to speak on this situation and so we’re going to ask that you guys leave. I just can’t disclose anything,” the property manager said.
The County gave the complex 30 days to fix the problems.
“it’s many different problems with our buildings with our units and not only that,” AlexxaBardley, a resident of the complex said. “The management here is horrible, they act like none of our problems matter.
Inspectors are set to return to the complex to assess the conditions. The county said that if no progress has been made, it could take legal action against the owners of the complex.
When Department of Public Works inspectors visited the complex and found that there were still violations. While an attempt was made to fix some of the problems, not all of them have been repaired. The county is referring the complex to the County Counselors Offices for civil prosecution.
Mold Inspection & Testing St. Louis has vast experience performing mold assessments in the city. We urge the owners of Windham Chase to schedule a professional mold assessment to ensure that their buildings are safe for residents. To speak with an MI&T representative, call 314.480.6964.
