Tenants at a Northside apartment building say they have been living with mold, gas leaks, broken radiators and pest infestations for months and that repeated attempts to get management to act have gone unanswered or resulted in eviction threats.The problems are centered at 1604, 1614 and 1626 Chase Ave., where more than 80% of residents joined a tenants union in May, demanding that property owners with CATS Management address health and safety concerns inside their units.A new property manager, Destry Austin, who began overseeing the buildings in June, says many of the issues were never formally reported to him and that work orders submitted since he took over have been addressed promptly."Any work order repairs that I've received since I've been there, they've been addressed promptly, and they've been taken care of," Austin said.Residents say the problems inside the building are serious and long-standing. Tenant Brendan Marcum described poor ventilation as a compounding factor in the mold growth."This building's over 100 years old, and there's no ventilation. On the surface, it's probably twice as worse in the wall," Marcum said.Another tenant described the extent of the mold in their unit."A little bit of mold, but this is the holy grail right over here. This is our mold farm," Mike Mitchum said.At the May rally, tenants read a statement outlining their demands."Can no longer abide Chase Avenue LLC employees entering our homes without 24 hours' notice, and we will not stand for letters threatening evictions over non-existent issues in our apartments," a tenant said at the rally. Another resident described the breakdown in the relationship with management."There's no reciprocation in that sort of relationship," said Gabriel Barta.Mitchum and Barta said when they moved in two years ago, they were told a gas-leaking oven would be fixed. They say it never was. They also said management addressed a leaking ceiling but not the water damage that followed."We would text a maintenance number, someone would text us and say they would come out and look at the issue, but there's not really a fix," Mitchum said.After we reached out to CATS Management, Austin and the property owner inspected the apartment. Austin said CATS would repair the water damage in the ceiling, add ventilation to the bathroom and replace the stove. Repairs have not yet been scheduled.According to a Chase Avenue tenant representative, during the Monday morning inspection, Austin examined all rooms in the unit, including those without active maintenance complaints, saying he was looking for "wear and tear" issues.Austin said his introductory letter to tenants explained how to submit work orders and that he has not received complaints about most of the issues residents described."My introductory letter said, 'If it's an emergency, I prefer you not send an email; pick up the phone, make a phone call. But either way, we will see the work order. I haven't seen any work orders. I haven't seen anything that came into me that we didn't address,'" Austin said. When asked whether it was the tenants' responsibility to notify him of unresolved maintenance issues, even those that may have been filed with a previous manager, Austin said the responsibility falls on tenants to contact the current management office.Austin also said the building's rental rates are below market for the area."Most communities have a vacancy rate around 97 to 98%. Average rents for comparable units are anywhere from $1,100 to $1,350. We don't have any tenants paying over $1,000 that I've seen so far in a one-bedroom unit. Most of the rents there are around $900. That's very competitive," Austin said.When asked whether he was committed to rebuilding trust with tenants, Austin said he was."I'm 100% there for the tenant. As I said, I work for the tenant as much as I work for the company. My goal is to have happy tenants. A landlord's goal is to have happy tenants. You can't collect rent. Your vacancy rates are horrible when your tenants aren't happy," Austin said.A number of tenants have raised concerns about being surveilled in their own homes. When asked about plans to install security cameras in the building, Austin declined to provide details, confirming only that cameras are being installed.Since July 27, several code violations have been reported at the property including broken windows, heating issues and nonworking smoke detectors. Austin said he was not notified of those violations. Marcum said the landlord filed to evict him in May, claiming he was delinquent on rent for three months. Marcum said he provided receipts to dispute the claim."My landlord and building owner and the lawyer they claim that I was delinquent on April, May, and June rent. Well, I showed up with my receipts for my money orders and the Kroger receipts for the money orders as well," Marcum said.Court records show a judge dismissed part of the eviction case after citing a pattern of accepting late rent payments. Marcum has also filed claims against the landlord. The case is still headed to trial. Marcum said he wants to resolve the situation and move on."I want to win these cases. I want to move out of this apartment the second I can. I don't want to see them ever again or hear from them ever again," Marcum said. This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less