Teenager falls through bathroom floor of continuously problematic apartment complex

By Jenna Rae

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    CAHOKIA HEIGHTS, Missouri (KMOV) — From leaking ceilings to rodents running amok, some Cahokia Heights residents said they’ve lived in these types of conditions for years. They’re living at Greystone Apartments, which is low-income housing, funded by your taxpayer dollars.

Today, an incident that could have been life threatening, had residents calling News 4 once again.

“He was coming out of the shower. I hear a big boom and sounded like some stuff was falling, and we couldn’t even push the door open. I said ‘go see and make sure he’s okay’, and that’s when he told me he was in the floor,” a resident said.

The Greystone Apartment resident we talked to Thursday wants to remain anonymous. She told us her son fell through their upstairs bathroom floor Thursday morning. Firemen had to take the bathroom door completely off to get her son out of the floor. They had to cut his leg out of the floorboards. Doctors told the family they believe he has a stress fracture.

“Why am I paying $700 to live in these conditions,” the resident asked.

This specific resident has lived at Greystone for more than a decade. However, she’s not the first one to have concerns about the living conditions at Greystone Apartments. In January, News 4 talked to two other residents who said they’ve been making complaints to management about leaking ceilings, black mold and even rats in apartments.

News 4 first started investigating Greystone Apartments in March 2020 when the then Village of Alorton put condemnation notices across the property. A second story aired Jan. 25 after getting more complaints from viewers about conditions.

On that day, News 4 contacted the now City of Cahokia Heights’ code enforcement division and Greystone’s property managers. No one ever responded.

We also tried to call Ross Financial Services, they own Greystone and other apartment complexes across Illinois. They’re based out of Chicago. After leaving several messages, for weeks, with the city of Cahokia Heights and still not receiving a call back, we got a call this week saying staff had been to the property.

“On Sunday, he [code enforcement director] contacted me and we came out. We immediately came out to meet with management to see exactly what was going on, and we did do that, we met with the residents, we spoke with them and there were some concerns,” Francella Jackson said.

Jackson is the public information officer for Cahokia Heights. We asked her why problems are allowed to continue.

“We’re going to be contacting HUD because they’re responsible. This is subsidized housing, and just because residents are poor and cannot afford homes that you and I live in, they don’t have to live like this,” Jackson said.

Several residents reached out to News 4 and said they’ve been reporting issues like leaking faucets, broken down walls and floor boards, black mold, rats and cockroaches to on-site property managers for years. Residents said they feel like nothing will ever get better and don’t believe the property managers are telling the federal government about their issues.

Cahokia Heights leaders want and need to hear from residents. Thursday, they put flyers on people’s doors with a number to call to file complaints of living conditions. If you live at Greystone Apartments or any other troubled property in Cahokia Heights call 618-337-9517.

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