Tenants speak out about conditions inside, outside Latrobe apartment building

Kara McAdams doesn’t want to come home after work — instead she wants to cry, she said, because of the cockroaches and bedbugs she’s battling there.

McAdams, 33, is living in the apartment building at 333 Main St. in Latrobe, where 100 violations of the property maintenance code were found following the city’s blitz inspection last month.

She and other tenants described squalor-like living conditions and said they believe the building should be condemned.

Latrobe’s inspection uncovered violations with the smoke alarm and sprinkler system, which wasn’t functioning, as well as issues such as exposed wires, broken windows and shards of glass, city Manager Terry Carcella said.

Owner Jay Pan LLC was notified of the needed repairs prior to reinspection but didn’t satisfy the requirements, Carcella said. Another inspection will be Nov. 2, he said.

For about 14 months, McAdams has been renting a two-bedroom apartment with her fiancé, Joe Palmer, and her two sons: Tanner, 13, and Jaysen, 6 months. Their rent is $550 per month plus utilities.

McAdams and Palmer, 24, said they didn’t notice any bugs until a week or two after they moved in, when they started seeing “big roaches.”

As the months progressed, it “kind of got worse,” McAdams said. “My baby has gotten bit up.”

In August, McAdams reached out to a representative for Jay Pan LLC, as the problem had “significantly worsened.” She also began to notice bedbugs in August.

“The bugs have destroyed my mental health,” McAdams said. “I can’t even let my baby on the floor because … there’s tons of bugs everywhere.”

An exterminator was dispatched in compliance with the city’s inspection, according to Carcella, but he hasn’t received a report about what was found or know if the exterminator will return.

An individual from Jay Pan LLC responded to a text from the Tribune-Review and said that “repair for violations in the building is undergoing.” They did not elaborate. The person, who did not identify themselves by name, has not responded to requests for an interview. Jay Pan LLC is based in Murrysville, according to Westmoreland County property records.

Other tenants also have reported bug problems.

Vanessa Jordan has been a tenant for almost 10 years, and she has seen roaches, bedbugs and even rats. She pays $500 per month for her two-bedroom unit, not including electric.

“It’s been horrible,” said Jordan, 49.

In the past, she said she has had to live without electricity in her bathroom for about four weeks, and in January, there was a “major water leak” when multiple pipes burst in her living room. One window in her apartment is broken.

“It ruined everything,” Jordan said of the water leak. “It took a whole entire day to fix that, and I still don’t have any ceiling tile in my living room.”

Getting the landlord to fix issues is like “pulling teeth,” Jordan said.

“It’s stressful,” she said. “You can’t leave food out because there’s roaches. You gotta watch what you’re eating. Then whenever you’re sleeping, you might have bugs crawling on you.”

The owner is working with the city to correct the “most serious issues,” Carcella said — the ones that are critical to the health, safety and welfare of the residents.

He said it’s not his goal to condemn the building because the city would have to find housing for the displaced residents.

“The issue is: Where do we find housing for 43 residents in the city right now when housing’s tight everywhere?” Carcella said.

Safety concerns

Tenant Bobbi Brunot said she “doesn’t trust anybody,” keeping her things as locked up as possible in her apartment. She said she pays $650 per month for a double unit with two-three bedrooms.

“I don’t own much, but I own enough where I’m worried about one of them going in and just taking something,” said Brunot, 48.

She hasn’t seen any bedbugs in her apartment, but she said there was a cooler that contained human feces in the foyer near her apartment. It had been used by “squatters” coming into the building, she said.

The behavior of people hanging around the building is not in Jay Pan’s control, the spokesperson said via text.

Brunot also was living there during a fire that happened in March and a recent overdose death.

Since she moved there January, Brunot said she has become aware of drug deals in and around the building, which are “very much” a concern for her.

Unlike the other tenants, Brunot said she hasn’t complained to the landlord because “it’s pointless to even say anything.” Instead, she’s focusing on finding a new place to live.

“This isn’t a safe building for anybody — I don’t care who you are,” she said. “I never wanted to live there, but … you’re going to take anything, especially in the middle of winter.”

Jordan said she has noticed homeless people going in and out of the building as well as drug activity outside.

“You see people in the alley turning around and doing drugs … my door is like right there, and I can look right at the alley,” she said. “There’s people who meet up in cars and do drug deals.”

Jordan is hoping to move out soon, as her brother gifted her a mobile home.

“Things have gotten worse over the last 10 years,” she said.

In 2017, a 15-year-old Latrobe boy was fatally shot inside the apartment building. After that, Jordan said, things calmed down for a time, but then, “it just started right back up again.”

Latrobe police Chief Richard Bosco said the apartment building is an area of concern for the police department, as police have received “numerous complaints about less-than-desirable living conditions.”

There have been incidents there ranging from domestic disputes to drug activity as well as an overdose death this year and one last year, he said.

Bosco said he believes the building is secured, but tenants can prop open a door or let individuals inside who don’t live there.

Police have been stepping up law enforcement efforts around the building, he said.

There is a camera in front of the building — one of more than 100 throughout the city in areas that “may become a public safety issue,” he said.

“The end result for us is the quality of life with the individuals that are living there,” Bosco said. “Whatever we have to do to help them reach that next level of quality of life, that’s what we will … continue to do.”

Local impact

Just last week, Adam Flood bought the property next door with the intent of opening a fine dining restaurant, which he plans to call Tête-à-Tête.

Flood, 39, of Greensburg is a chef, and he said the state of the apartment building is affecting his property.

He wasn’t aware of the problems prior to his purchase. He said he was warned by a friend about three days before closing on the property.

“We’re trying to deal with it right now — we’re doing the responsible thing,” Flood said. “I’d like to have them clean it up, but if they can’t … then well, it needs to get shut down.”

Flood said his property is getting sprayed for bugs, including the three apartments upstairs that house college students.

“It’s a health issue, and it needs to get taken care of immediately,” he said.

Bill Adreon and Michelle Hoge own the Wildcat Convenience Shop across the street, and they believe the apartment building’s condition has affected all of the nearby businesses.

“I have customers down at the high rises down the street — they will not come up to my store,” said Adreon, 43, of Derry. “There’s been a lot of drug activity … a bunch of crime throughout that building.”

Meanwhile, Jay Pan is making progress on correcting the violations, Carcella said.

“There’s a whole laundry list of things that have to be done,” he said. “As long as we continue to see progress, we will allow (the owner) to continue working to fix the building.”