MILWAUKEE — Tenants who live in apartment complexes near North 39th Street and West Clybourn Street in Milwaukee are once again dealing with a trash problem and issues on the inside of their buildings.
"This is the ceiling where it leaks into the stove," tenant Carole Strange said.
Strange is living with cockroaches crawling everywhere, what appears to be a moldy ceiling in her kitchen, and water filling parts of her walls.
"It's like a nightmare in hell," Strange said. "At the end of my life, this is how I'm living."
Strange said these problems started over a year ago, and that's why she called TMJ4.
"I requested him to fix the roof, because of leaking in the kitchen, and he did nothing. Absolutely nothing," Strange said.
According to city records, her landlord is Bryan Hintz. He also owns two other apartment buildings on the block.
Watch: Milwaukee tenant living in 'nightmare' conditions as landlord files for bankruptcy
"I mean, look at this, he doesn't care. He doesn't care," Strange said.
Documents show that she and other neighbors have sent multiple complaints to the Department of Neighborhood Services about multiple issues.
"The roaches are all over. In the bathroom, in the kitchen, in my cupboard, underneath the sink," Strange said.
TMJ4 first reported on her landlord about a year ago as neighbors complained of overflowing trash — and that's their reality once again.
According to GFL Environmental, the trash service at Hintz's properties, the dumpsters were removed on Friday. The company said the dumpsters were removed because the landlord filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and has unpaid invoices.
"It smells like a dying animal," said one tenant who lives at one of Hintz's properties on the block and wants to remain anonymous. She says the mess is embarrassing.
"It stink. Imagine and then to look at it, like imagine you want to have company and you can't have company because you got trash in the back of your house," the tenant said.
According to DNS, Hintz has received three violations in the past 18 months for solid waste from the city.
"I just need justice, for not only me but everyone involved," Strange said.
TMJ4 reached out to Hintz for a comment on the trash and living conditions, and did not hear back.
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