With chants of “Rats and mice are squeaking! Ceiling pipes are leaking!” and “Housing is a human right!” a handful of tenants from a group of subsidized, troubled properties in the Hill District marched on a property management office Thursday morning, demanding fixes and a meeting with managers.
The properties are part of a group of local affordable apartments purchased several years ago by New Jersey-based NB Affordable. WESA reported on tenant concerns at some of the properties in 2023; residents shared worries about living conditions and safety at their homes after NB Affordable took over.
The company’s leaders pleaded guilty to federal mortgage fraud charges last year and its properties, located in the Hill, Homewood, the Mon Valley, and elsewhere are now in various stages of foreclosure or bankruptcy.
The properties are privately owned and receive a federal subsidy to house low-income tenants.
A Connecticut-based bank filed a mortgage foreclosure action against the Hill District properties earlier this year. In April an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge appointed a receiver to oversee the properties, which include hundreds of units scattered throughout the Hill in dozens of buildings along Bedford Avenue, Webster Avenue and elsewhere.
Thursday’s demonstration, organized by tenant advocacy group One Pennsylvania Renters United Allegheny, was aimed at Texas-based property manager Lynd Living and court-appointed receiver Trigild, who are directly in charge of the properties now.
Kate Giammarise
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90.5 WESA
“I pay my rent. Even though they don’t fix anything,” said Patrice Aaron, a tenant who spoke about not having electricity in a portion of her house for 35 days this summer because of a problem with a breaker box that she said she begged the company to fix.
Other problems with her housing have included leaks and a portion of falling ceiling. Such issues have been a hardship for her and her children, she said.
Aaron said she has tried to resolve the issues by asking managers to no avail. “We need to be heard. We need justice,” she said, standing with the group in front of a property manager’s office just off Bedford Avenue.
Another tenant, Crystal White, said her home is infested with mold and she and her neighbors have resorted to their own pest control.
The tenants submitted a letter at a property management office on Thursday asking for needed repairs and a meeting with Lynd and Trigild. The tenant group also wants the companies to forgive tenant debt because they say the companies are trying to charge tenants incorrect rent amounts due to poor record keeping and a failure to complete federally-mandated recertification paperwork.
Tenants held a similar protest about the Homewood properties this summer.
Lynd did not respond to a message from WESA seeking comment. Officials from Trigild could not be reached.
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