Tenants in Skid Row building file lawsuit due to unsafe, deplorable living conditions

About 14 years ago, a Skid Row apartment complex built in part with city and county loans, was praised as a safe haven.

Now, residents of this supportive housing complex are suing over dangerous and deplorable conditions, including roach and bed bug infestations, broken elevators and raw sewage leaks. Tenants claim they have been forced to live in inhumane conditions despite repeated complaints to management.

Resident Thomas John Pikes showed Eyewitness News around his apartment and the horrible conditions he's enduring.

"The main issue here is the roaches and bed bugs," he said, pointing to his walls lined with duct tape and insecticide.

Pike is one of the tenants filing a lawsuit against the owner of Renato Apartments, claiming he is dealing with serious health hazards, including breathing in poison.

"It's always damage control whether they'll send out a fumigator to do a temporary spray," he said.

While speaking with tenants of the building, Eyewitness News documented what appeared to be vomit, as well as human and animal excrement on the property.

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Tenant Booker T. Washington said residents are often forced to use the stairwell due to elevators not functioning properly.

"Sometimes both elevators are broken," he said. "We've had to carry people on wheelchairs up the stairwell."

SRO Housing Corporation is responsible for managing the property. Its CEO Anita Nelson stated they've spent more than $30,000 repairing the elevators and have both in-house and outside pest control services. When asked about the vomit and excrement, Nelson attributed it to janitor staffing.

The Inner City Law Center began investigating the conditions in 2023. The organization said the tenants are primarily people who are older, from communities of color and diagnosed with chronic mental and physical disabilities. Most residents rely on Section 8 vouchers or other subsidies.

Inner City Law Center Litigation Director David Smith said the conditions in this building are among the worst of those they represent. The center's lawsuit lists pervasive issues such as long-term infestations, crumbling walls and ceilings, and leaks including raw sewage. It also cited an instance in which a tenant died by suicide.

"From tenants that I've spoken to, the body was there unclaimed for a while," Smith said. "And the mess that unfortunately resulted wasn't cleaned up. Tenants, including our clients, had to clean up that mess."

Nelson said she did not recall the incident, adding she was not saying it did not happen.

"Most of the tenants here are dealing with major issues," Pike said. He added, it feels "like it's a crime to charge people rent on units that are totally uninhabitable."