MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Milwaukee condominium residents have been without their only elevator for six months after it was damaged during the historic August floods, leaving some struggling to navigate stairs daily.
Linda McCarthy, who lives on the first floor of the condominium, must climb a set of stairs every time she enters or exits the building since her floor is not at ground level.
"Those steps to me are a lot," McCarthy said. "I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last year around this time, and going for chemo, so it's very difficult because it really zaps all of your energy and coming back after chemo, even though those are eight steps, they may as well be 100 to me."
Since there's no working elevator, McCarthy's family has been helping her in and out of the building, which includes lugging her electric chair in and out too.
"To have my daughter carry that up those stairs without the use of the elevator is really a hardship. I'm thinking, if this continues and something happens to her, I don't have anybody else," McCarthy added.
When McCarthy toured and then purchased her condo in July, the elevator was working. However, when she moved in a few days after the historic August flood, she learned the only elevator in the building was damaged during the unprecedented storm.
Watch: Milwaukee condo owner contacts TMJ4 for help for ongoing broken elevator: 'I just didn't know where to turn'
"it's been taking so long with no updates on this thing, I just didn't know where to turn," McCarthy said to TMJ4's Chief Investigative Reporter, Jenna Rae.
A month after the floods, McCarthy said she started reaching out to her building's condo association board.
" I hand wrote a note to our board of directors because they don't want phone calls, so I wrote a note to them and just said 'hey, we haven't heard anything in a while, can you give us an update,'" McCarthy explained.
She received a response in October, followed by monthly updates that said the board was waiting on the insurance claim and check to process in order to pay for the repairs.
At the end of December, McCarthy emailed Rae asking for help.
In January, the board told homeowners work would begin in early-to-mid February, with no timeline of when the elevator would be operational.
"I just thought that maybe you could help us with either the contractor or the insurance company to move things along a little bit. I'm not the only one in this building that needs an elevator," McCarthy said.
At the end of January, TMJ4 News requested an interview with the condo board. Through the board's attorney, it declined an interview and pointed the finger at the insurance company, saying that after initially approving the claim, further investigation revealed damages were "above and beyond what was initially quoted." The board went on to say, "the additional damage required a full replacement...resulting in a significantly higher bill and requiring a new claim to be submitted."
The board's full statement is at the bottom of this article.
The condo association's bylaws do not mention requiring insurance approval before moving forward with emergency or crucial repairs to condo areas. Leaving McCarthy and other owners at the mercy of bylaws written nearly 50 years ago. The last updates made to the bylaws, according to condo association documents, were in the early 2000s, which didn't change anything when it comes to repairs or insurance related to this issue.
"No parts have been moved in, nothing has been done on the elevator at all," McCarthy said.
Milwaukee city records show Elevator Express, out of Waukesha, is doing the replacement. A representative for that company told us they're waiting on parts to come in this week or next, so that work can finally begin.
"We still pay our condo dues, but like I said, we're not getting any reimbursement for the elevator being out. I just think there needs to be more communication and more urgency for the residents who live here," McCarthy pleaded.
State law requires a building with three or more stories to have a working elevator, but since the work is technically in progress and the company is waiting on parts, there's no enforcement that can be done in the meantime.
Read the full statement from the condo association below.
Red Oaks V Homeowner Association, Inc. (the “Association”) is a condominium association made up of unit owners and administered by a volunteer board consisting of a handful of those same unit owners. As is true of all condominium associations in the state of Wisconsin, unit owners at the Association pay monthly dues in order to fund an annual budget to cover costs of the Association for the coming year such as insurance premiums, property taxes, landscaping, etc. These monthly assessments are fixed with the annual budget, meaning that failure to collect full payment will result in the Association’s failure to pay its fixed expenses.
During the historic floods that devastated the greater Milwaukee area in August of 2025, an elevator at the Association was damaged. Like any other damaged common element, the Association immediately submitted a claim to its insurance provider to begin repairs as soon as possible.
While the insurance company did provide initial coverage approval within a month of the initial claim, further investigation of the elevator revealed damages above and beyond what was initially quoted. This additional damage required a full replacement of the elevator, resulting in a significantly higher bill and requiring a new claim to be submitted. While the Association provided all necessary information in the investigation process, the insurance provider did not determine full coverage until December of 2025. Upon receipt of this determination, the Association immediately informed the elevator repair company and the necessary parts were ordered. While the Association was hopeful this would be the outcome of its claim, it had no guarantee and thus could not begin the elevator repair process until the insurance company made its final determination as to coverage.
With the insurance coverage confirmed, the Association is thankful that the repairs are now anticipated to be done by the end of February. While an exact date has not yet been provided to the Association, it will circulate that information to the unit owners as soon as it is available as it has done will all relevant information throughout this process.
- Red Oaks V Homeowner Association, Inc.
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