COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Inspectors condemned an apartment building Sunday after part of a second-story porch collapsed.
NBC 4’s Ana Jackson reported with the FAST FACTS.
Tenants at an apartment building at Cleveland and Radnor avenues, on the city’s North Side, were looking for a new home or simply a place to go Sunday afternoon.
“I was coming home. All the police officers were out here,” tenant Eddie McElroy said.
McElroy, who is wheelchair bound and on oxygen, is homeless now.
“I’m out here with nowhere to go. I've got my tanks right there. That ain't going to last me all night long,” McElroy said.
Landlord Kevin Smoot said while the building was under repair two years ago, thieves stole the metal supports intended for the porch. He replaced the metal supports with wood and vinyl.
Unfortunately, the materials weren’t strong enough and cracked under pressure.
Smoot argued that only four apartments were affected by the collapse.
Smoot’s tenants said it's not fair for the entire building to be shut down.
“I asked him if we could get support beams to temporarily support it until it can be fixed so that everybody doesn't have to move. Because they have no place to place us,” tenant Charles Lindsay said.
Lindsay said he is frustrated with inspectors, not his landlord.
“I wouldn't place the blame on Kevin Smoot. He did everything he could. Actually, he did. He tried to do everything he could to do today,” Lindsay said.
Smoot said he had enough room to put up only five of the 12 tenants who were displaced.
He said he was looking for additional housing for those who want it. Otherwise, he said, his tenants are free to break their leases.
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