LANSING, Mich. — For residents of the Porter Apartments in Lansing, the list of issues is too long to count.
William Sorrells, a veteran who lives in the eight-story building on Townsend Street with his chihuahua, Little Bill, said he's experienced rats, bugs and even violent crime during his 3 years there.
“I had my teeth knocked out,” Sorrells said, adding that his assailant then "followed me into my apartment, because we had no security, and him and another guy beat me up and took my money.”
But Sorrells isn’t the only resident fed up, another resident sent us photos of rats in her unit and what happened to her after she was bitten by bed bugs.
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The building is owned by The California Commercial Investment Company. FOX 47 reached out to them for a statement, but has not heard anything back.
In August, the Lansing City Council decided not to renew a tax break for the building. That decision came after at least 5 years of warnings from the council.
“We’ve had problems and tenants have been complaining about it for the entire 5 years I’ve been on council,” said Council Member Patricia Spitzley.
“You have $250,000 in reserve. If you wanted to make it right, you would be using that money to do so,” Spitzley said.
Residents hope positive change comes soon.
“I’d like to see the property get cleaned up,” Sorrells said.
