The Allegheny County District Attorney’s office is charging a West Mifflin apartment complex as a public nuisance, citing deplorable housing conditions for residents at the property, as well as what a criminal complaint called “a dangerous environment” for tenants and the public at large.
The property’s owner, Mon View Apts LLC, failed to make major repairs, according to an eight-page criminal complaint, and failed to remedy serious health and safety problems despite being given numerous opportunities. The LLC was named as the defendant.
The complaint cited information gathered from West Mifflin police and code enforcement officials; police have responded to more than 500 calls at the property in the past six months. Previous owners of the property employed armed security, controlled the entrance, patrolled the property, and worked closely with the police department, the complaint said.
“I drive through the property daily, and the property continues to become more and more deplorable,” said one code inspector quoted in the criminal complaint. Of 129 apartment units inspected in June and July, 96 failed, according to the complaint, which cited missing windows, broken windows, mold, leaking pipes and other issues.
Search warrants were also executed “on business locations owned and/or otherwise utilized by the defendant,” according to the DA’s office.
The 326-unit property was one of a number of Pittsburgh-area affordable housing complexes sold in early 2023 to a New Jersey-based company, NB Affordable. At the time of the sale, a number of local affordable housing advocates expressed concern that so many properties could be sold to an out-of-state owner that appeared to have close ties to an investment firm. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved the sale. The properties receive a federal subsidy to keep rents for low-income tenants affordable.
A HUD spokesperson said Tuesday the agency “is working with the owner, management agent, and local authorities to ensure these residents have access to the quality, affordable homes they deserve.”
Last year, WESA highlighted concerns from tenants about living conditions in several of other local NB Affordable properties.
District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said in a news release he plans to tour the property this week with the mayor of West Mifflin.
“No person, let alone, family, should have to live in these conditions,” said Zappala in a statement. “To have raw sewage pouring out in front of a bus stop, dilapidated amenities for children and broken railings, it’s simply unacceptable and our citizens deserve better.”
The company could not be reached for comment.
One resident who spoke to WESA on Tuesday said conditions at the property are “terrible,” including racoons running through housing units, high grass on the property, and a lack of maintenance for needed repairs. She now stockpiles water because service was unexpectedly shut off for four days over the summer, she said. She didn’t want her name used for fear she could be evicted.
She won’t allow her four-year-old son to play outside, she said, because of the violence in the complex.
“I'm terrified he's going to get shot,” she said. “That's my fear, my biggest fear.”
Another resident, David Stallworth, Jr., who filed a legal complaint on his own against the property last year, said many residents would like to move because of the problems there, but aren’t able to.
“A lot of them want to move, but they're not in a position or they don't have the funds,” he said.
