Advocates providing legal help, support to Ypsilanti apartment tenants living in condemned units
As the city of Ypsilanti, Michigan, and the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office continue their lawsuit against the owners of the Arbor One apartments, residents are getting some help from community advocates to make sure they're not being taken advantage of.
According to the lawsuit, 18 of the 19 buildings at the complex were condemned between December 2024 and February 2025.
Some of the residents are still living in condemned units, claiming that mold, pest and flooding issues continue to be neglected. Attorneys representing the residents say while they should be entitled to a new place to live at Arbor One's expense, it hasn't been that easy unless their case goes to a judge.
Jules Wordessa finally took his claims to Legal Services of South Central Michigan to find somewhere else to live after his condemned apartment flooded following Wednesday night's storms. When he got back, he said his locks had been changed, and no one at the property seemed to know who did it.
"It was a whole process to even figure out what happened. They still do not know who changed my locks or even who has the set of keys to the ... lock that they changed," Wordessa said.
Another tenant who wished to remain anonymous says it's a surprise if they get any sort of timely response from maintenance to serious issues in her unit.
"The door completely fell off the hinges, and I've been asking them for months to come and fix that, and they still haven't come and done it. There's a really bad roach problem. There were a lot of roaches falling out of where the trash can would be," she said.
Attorneys at Legal Services are helping tenants understand their rights regarding withholding rent on a condemned unit, what they're entitled to if they want to move elsewhere and how to get their case heard by a judge.
"We're helping them file pleadings. We're helping them draft a complaint against the owners and just sort of educate them on what their rights are, that they don't have to pay rent here, and that they're entitled to a safe habitable place to live," said Lou Maskill, supervising attorney at Legal Services of South Central Michigan.
Other advocates like Washtenaw County 6th District Commissioner Annie Sommerville are bringing resources and advice straight to tenants.
"The single most important reason is to try and combat the misinformation and the manipulation that's happening on behalf of the property management company," Sommerville said.
While Sommerville and Maskill both provide tenants with information on how to exercise their rights, they agree that only those who present their cases to a judge see results.
CBS News Detroit reached out to Arbor One property management team, who said they're working every day to make necessary repairs and restore their buildings' certificate of occupancy. They couldn't comment further on any of the legal matters happening at this time.