CINCINNATI — A mother of six says her Evanston rental home has been plagued by rodents, roaches, flooding and a broken heating and cooling system — and that her landlord has done nothing meaningful to fix it.
Shiesha Whitson said she moved into the home on Bevis Avenue in Evanston five years ago after leaving a shelter, hoping it would mark a turning point for her family. Instead, she said the conditions have only gotten worse.
"We moved into here with roaches," Whitson said.
WATCH: Whitson describes what she and her family have been dealing with
She told us the problems have compounded over time. During heavy rains over the past few weeks, water pushed into parts of the home. She said she has also been dealing with a rodent and roach infestation. She told us the heat went unrepaired during the winter for an extended period, and the air is broken now too.
"He took the longest to fix the heat like we were in there freezing cold," Whitson said. "And now it's been a whole summer with no air. And so we had to get a small little AC from Saint Vincent De Paul."
The conditions have left her and her six children without a safe or sanitary place to live, she said.
"What about the safety of my children? My baby almost got bit by a rat. She don't know how to walk or nothing, and she almost got bit," Whitson said.
Her neighbor, Hope Johnson-Gordon, who reached out to WCPO, has connected Whitson with an attorney as they continue to push for answers.
"As a person who has had three generations, actually four now living in Evanston," Johnson-Gordon said. "I'm tired of people coming in and corporations and others who aren't in the community who take up our resources and buy up the housing and then don't even care about the neighborhood in which we live."
WCPO reached out to the landlord to ask when — or if — these problems would be fixed, but our questions went unanswered.
City records show years of recurring complaints tied to maintenance, sanitation and living conditions at the property. Records also show an active, unresolved building code case and ongoing complaints involving trash, litter and property upkeep. Based on records, it is still not clear if the landlord has been penalized financially.
Whitson said this fight is about more than her family.
"You need to get it together. You need to be more caring for your tenants and not just caring about money … it's children involved," Whitson said.
Whitson also said her children are dealing with extremely high levels of lead in their system. WCPO 9 saw medical records indicating such, but there was no cause for the high levels shown. The family is now working to move into a safer place.
If you are dealing with similar living conditions, advocates say you should contact Legal Aid to learn about your rights as a tenant.
