Some residents of a Clinton, Iowa apartment building say the conditions they are living in are not safe, claiming one sewage leak appears to have been fixed with duct tape.
Johnny Ashburn has lived in the Lafayette Apartments for one year. He noticed a broken pipe, patched up with duct tape and standing water in an empty apartment that is used for storage, when he was working for the building's owner.
"This smell comes up through the air conditioning vent," he said.
The door to the apartment was not locked.
"Children play in these hallways all day every day so it wouldn't surprise me if some kids have already been in there, you know what I mean," said Jeremy Shine, who has been a tenant for a year.
There are also concerns with mold and sink backups.
Ashburn says the landlord is aware of the leak. The owner of the building did not want to talk on camera, but says he has been in the hospital for months and Ashburn was the one who was supposed to fix it all. Ashburn stopped working for a him a few weeks ago, when the two had a disagreement and went their separate ways, according to Ashburn. The owner claims Ashburn has not paid his rent since December.
The owner says the building has 80 units. According to the Richard Foley, the City of Clinton's rental inspector, 21 are considered up to code, though not all of the units have people living in them.
"Currently, what we're doing is, is we're taking all these complaints very seriously. We are going to be working with the property owner and the current tenants inspecting each apartment to ensure that it meets the standards that are required by the city code in the State of Iowa and we're also going to work with the property owner and the tenants manager that are occurring in the vacant areas of the building are appropriately addressed and provide a good housing standard for the people who reside there," said Foley.
The City has been to the building ten times in the past year, but does not inspect units the owner does not rent out.
"If I have a pipe that's busted or I have a sink that's leaking and it's in a vacant apartment, and the property owner and the manager shuts that water off, I can't then turn around and force that property owner or property manager to bring that repairs up to code if the property's vacant," said Foley.
Foley says he plans to return to the Lafayette Apartments soon to continue inspecting the apartments.
"If the leak is verified, he will have to repair the leak. He will have to ensure that the leak is completely addressed. If that leak caused any mold or mildew he would have to abate that to ensure that that has not spread or that does not get into the ventilation systems," he said.