U.S. Lawmakers Demand HUD 'Swiftly Examine' Mold, Rodents, Other Issues At Concordia Place Apartments
CHICAGO (CBS) -- After several reports by CBS 2 shedding light on mice, decay, and mold at the Concordia Place apartments on the Far South Side, lawmakers are taking action.
On Tuesday, U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Illinois) called on the US. Department of Housing and Urban Development to "swiftly examine" the issues there.
In a letter they also said, "No one should be subjected to living in the conditions reported by the residents of the Concordia Place apartment complex."
CBS 2 first reported earlier this month on issues at Concordia Place, at 13037 S. Daniel Dr. in the Riverdale neighborhood.
We discovered the dumpsters at Concordia were for some reason hauled away - leaving the occupants of more than 200 apartments with nowhere to put their garbage bags for at least three days.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition went on to get involved, and residents showed Jackson and his colleagues the mold and mice droppings in their units.
"You can hear them at night crawling on the walls … just scraping and trying to get in," one tenant said. "I cried the other day. I'm kind of emotional right now."
"I see how we been living out here," she added. "We been accepting it, because we didn't have any leadership."
"I had rodents galore," another tenant said. "The mice ran me up out sometimes."
"My neighbor said, 'Baby what are you doing in your car?' I said, 'The mice done took over.' My friend says, 'You gonna let the mice win?' I said yes," she added. "I didn't pay for no mice to live up in here … We shouldn't live like this. A dog lives better than this."
Concordia Place said in a statement last week that it had an open line with HUD, the City of Chicago, and Rainbow/PUSH and all complaints from residents are being addressed – with a goal of full compliance by the end of this week.
