LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Simtob Management, a residential property company sued by Lansing due to many of its apartment buildings not being up to code, hasn’t been following the terms of its lawsuit settlement with the city, according to Lansing Code Enforcement.
The settlement requires Simtob to bring all of its properties up to code and to secure Holmes Apartments, which was condemned due to its living conditions.
But on Thursday morning, one of its doors was left sitting wide-open — allowing anybody to simply walk inside.
“I’m done; let’s get out of here. I want nothing to do with it,” said Angella Bollwhan, who lived at Holmes Apartments.
Bollwhan was one of many forced to live in a hotel until Simtob could move her into a new unit. Now, she’s talking about throwing away all of her belongings because they became infested with bugs while they were stored at her old apartment.
She said she was told by Simtob that her belongings would be safe. But when she returned, the place was totally ransacked.
Most of her stuff was destroyed.
“It was kind of stressful, walking up the stairs and seeing all of my stuff in the hallway. Then, walking around the corner and my door is wide-open and there are mice crawling all over and cockroaches on the walls; crawling on everything,” Bollwhan said.
Bollwhan says Simtob did not secure the building. City officials told Simtob to fix the problem or risk breaking the settlement.
After contacting Simtob to alert them of the issue, the wide-open door was finally deadbolted shut.
Bollwhan says she was told by Simtob she would be responsible for her destroyed belongings. She believes this entire issue could have been avoided, had the company just “followed the rules.”
Simtob claims “all locks were changed and properly secured throughout the entire building” and said they gave Bollwhan “a vast amount of assistance.”
