CINCINNATI — The bedroom ceiling in Kristan Monghan's North Avondale apartment collapsed in August — it still remains unfixed 3 months later.
Monghan reached out to us, saying she didn't know what else to do.
“When that one came down, it was like, it felt like a truck or something hit the building,” Monghan said. “And it fell down, and all you saw was black smoke.”
WATCH: We talked with Monghan about the ceiling collapse
Monghan showed me the damage in her apartment, which is located at the Asmann Apartments on Asmann Avenue off of Reading Road. The apartment complex is owned by Perfect Apartments, LLC, according to court documents.
On Tuesday, two workers were in the apartment working to repair the ceiling. Monghan told us that this was the first time anyone had been there to fix it.
I asked Monghan if there was a deadline or estimated finish date for the ceiling repairs, now that they had been started. She told me that she and the workers didn’t know.
When the ceiling first collapsed, the fire department arrived to inspect the damage.
“They said y’all need to get out of here and find somewhere else to stay,” Monghan said.
I called the property manager of Perfect Apartment, LLC, and their attorney to ask what was taking so long to repair Monghan’s ceiling and see if I could get in touch with the owner of the property. They declined to comment.
On Oct. 8, Monghan filed a small claims complaint against the apartment owner, asking for $4,000 to cover a portion of the damages from the collapsed ceiling.
On Oct. 24, the apartment complex filed a civil complaint for eviction against Monghan and $3,900 in unpaid rent.
She says she has the money, but since the damages from the ceiling collapse, she can’t afford the rent and the extra fees added on to the rent when paying online.
“They want us to pay the rent on the portal,” said Monghan. “And then they charge to pay the rent on the portal, and that’s why I told her (the property manager), I don’t have anything extra. You can come get this money, but I don’t have anything extra.”
Monghan’s case against the apartment is set to be heard in court Wednesday.
I confirmed that city building inspectors cited the property owner for violations in Monghan's apartment. The city ordered repairs to her bedrooms, living room and bathroom. According to city records, after the owner failed to make repairs, the city issued a fine.
