Syreeta Milligan, a resident of the Mon View Heights housing complex, had to choose between buying food or repairing her apartment’s heater.
“I have been dealing with this for so long. I am dealing with the same issues…they are not really coming to fix them and have been retaliating against me by sending police to my house. It has just been a battle living there,” Milligan said.
Her’s was just one of the stories shared with area officials about dealing with the landlord there, NB Affordable, during a townhall meeting Wednesday hosted by OnePA Renters United Allegheny County, 1Hood Media and U.S Rep. Summer Lee to address problems at public housing run by NB.
The focus was on renters’ living conditions. NB, they said, has allowed horrific living conditions, such as rodents, bed bugs, and severe maintenance issues like a lack of heat to persist.
Panelists participating in the discussion included Lee, Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, Allegheny County Councilor Bethany Hallam and Pittsburgh City Council members Khari Mosley, Deb Gross and Erika Strassburger.
In 2023, NB, a private equity firm, bought 1,300 affordable housing units formerly owned by the Allegheny Housing Rehabilitation Corp., including Mon View Heights. Many renters mentioned that prior to the sale, they had lived in their units for years and had not faced major safety issues. NB’s owners, facing multiple lawsuits, recently pleaded guilty to mortgage fraud and are awaiting sentencing.
Trigild Inc., a California-based property management company, was appointed by a judge to act as a receiver for NB’s properties.
Lee is working on a bill in Congress, challenging the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to help avoid situations like those endured by Milligan and her neighbors at Mon View Heights.
“To make sure that HUD never allows a company like NB Affordable to own properties again,” Lee said.
“The property owners are taking advantage of people who are marginalized, and we are shining a light on what is being done. Regardless of race, socioeconomic class or religion, you should not live without lights, with rodents and with repairs that go unchecked,” Lee said.
“Housing is a human right and not a luxury, and we need to put a stop to this and make them do something,” Lee said.
Gainey said it is imperative to get public housing back under the control of the public. He spoke about the tax shield that these landlords receive when working with Section 8 housing, which allows them to go nameless. “We need to let local housing authorities control local public housing,” Gainey said.
Strassburger added, “Privatization of a public entity always puts profit over people…. We need to make it impossible for slumlords to do business in this region again,” she said.
Mischelle McMillan, who lived in Duquesne and Homestead, supported renters putting their rent into escrow, a strategy renters in the Mon Valley took to get their concerns successfully addressed. “Right now, I am fighting for my grandkids,” McMillan said.
“It is time for HUD to be held accountable,” said Ashley Bryant, neighborhood engagement coordinator for the City of Pittsburgh. Allowing companies and private developers to take advantage is obviously not fair.”
Bryant works with constituents who are going days and months without getting their lights turned back on despite regularly paying rent, experiencing freezing temperatures with infant children, dealing with leaking ceilings, mold, roaches, and multiple security concerns.
In January, Mosley reached out to Innamorato’s office to relocate Mon View Heights tenants because of frozen pipes and a lack of heat. A Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus shuttled tenants to hotels, something that Mosley said they will keep doing, putting a blue sticker on units to “make the owners spend money they don’t want to spend for hotel stays and other living arrangements until the repairs are made,” Mosley said.
Innamorato, who supports helping residents suffering from poor housing conditions, was upfront with the audience regarding what steps are possible.
“It is really important to set realistic expectations for folks,” Innamorato said. “I would love to take all the resources that I can and give people the homes they deserve. Unfortunately, that is not the world we live in. I think it is important, as we’re advocating as elected officials and speaking with and listening to the community, that we tell them what we can and cannot do. They deserve that honesty and transparency.”
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“But they also deserve us to try really hard,” she said. “Stories are real, pain is real, and I wanted everyone to understand how we can push forward together.”
Allegheny County’s budget includes an additional $7 million to put toward affordable housing and the county is seeking to intervene in the court cases against NB.
“It would give us and you all a seat at the table,” Innamorato said.
Lynne Williams, who attends Petra Ministries, said, “After tonight, I was encouraged. In our church, we are sponsoring some of the families at Maple Ridge that are still out. The mayor and councilmen have been right on it. I am overly proud, and I believe something will come of this.”