2023-09-26 22:29:00
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Garnetta Lamb is afraid to stand in her kitchen, let alone cook in it.
Lamb says part of the kitchen ceiling in her southeast Atlanta apartment has collapsed not once, but twice over the course of six months leaving behind yellow water along with mold and rats.
“The smell is like the sewer. It has gone everywhere in this kitchen. It has corrupted everything. Everything is disgusting,” said Lamb.
Lamb tells us the nightmare began back in April just a few weeks into her lease when she noticed water leaking under a cabinet in the kitchen.
Lamb notified her apartment complex, 445 Cleveland.
She says they made repairs, then, a few months later, part of the ceiling came crashing down.
Lamb says the apartment complex patched up the ceiling but didn’t fix the underlying problem. And by mid-September, Lamb says it collapsed once once more.
“The rotten wood from the rotten pipes that they have to fix. If they don’t fix that, every two to three months we’re going to have this problem,” she said.
Atlanta News First reached out to the management company that owns the apartments, B Wolf and Sons, LLC, and has not heard anything back.
Lamb heard from an attorney on Tuesday who says they’re willing to waive any fees associated with breaking her lease.
The attorney also attached an air quality inspection report from early September, before Lamb says the ceiling collapsed a second time, showing “no elevated levels of mold.”
Meanwhile, Lamb says she’s desperate for a solution. She says she can’t afford to leave and is tired of living in fear.
“I would even prefer if they just pay me back my money and let me go because they’re not going to fix the problem,” Lamb said.
Atlanta News First also spoke with the Legal Aid branch in Atlanta.
They say a landlord or apartment complex has a duty under Georgia law to make repairs to a unit and to make sure it is safe and habitable.
They say a tenant should first make the request in writing. If that doesn’t work, a tenant should consult an attorney and if they can’t afford one, they can contact legal aid so they can seek relief in court.
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