Saturday, Feb. 22, tenants at 108 Washtenaw held a rally to protest unfair treatment by their management.
Tenants at the apartment building organized when one of their neighbors, Rachael, received an eviction notice from MTH Management to leave by April 1.
A press release shared by the tenants detailed grievances with the building's management and quality of the building.
"On January 21st, in response to an issue Rachael had brought to management’s attention, Rachael received a text from the property manager stating, 'If you’re unhappy with the service, it might be best for us to part ways. I will go ahead and place a 30-day notice for you to vacate,'" the release said.
The press release stated more issues from management, including inconsistent and confusing communication, persistent cockroach infestations, unexplained fires, and dysfunctional heating systems.
Before the rally on Friday, Rachael spoke about her experience. Rachael has lived at the property for four and a half years.
"In the last four years, management has changed, it started with Beal Properties to Red Shield Rentals owned by Ian Greenlee, back to Beal Properties, and then to MTH Management who is the current property manager based out of Lansing," Rachael said. "I have experienced just completely horrible treatment and organization. There’s no organization, its like they’re hiring people with no experience doing this."
Rachael moved in during the pandemic and experienced similar issues to her neighbors such as building break-ins, loitering, and frequent ant and cockroach infestations.
“I didn’t realize how bad it could be," Rachael said. "When I wake up every morning, [I] bleach my kitchen so that I can cook. I bleach my bathtub when I shower because there are dead ants everywhere."
The biggest issue is the heat. Tenants have dealt with temperature fluctuations, and Rachael didn’t have hot water for three months last winter.
She also didn’t have a thermostat connected to her room to be able to control the heat, along with most tenants in the building.
“The heat is one of the biggest things that affect me," Rachael said.
There were also issues with the managing of keys.
“During their time with me there, [MTH] lost keys to my apartment," Rachael said. "They would just get around it by asking you, 'You need to be there to let maintenance in.'"
These issues became the catalyst for Rachael to start talking with other tenants about their issues and getting to know them further through the community garden she was managing for a time.
When Rachael had to stop managing the garden to help her family, the garden was bulldozed and her tools disappeared.
The garden was her final straw, so Rachael met with management in September of 2024.
"Our property manager and I had a angry, heated conversation in September about my garden, and about not having heat, and the roaches … our trash wasn’t being picked up in the summer, so we would have our trash sitting out for three weeks at a time. Our washing machines don’t work, they’re always broken," Rachael said. "I was upset, and rightfully so."
Rachael was told if she was unhappy, she could leave when her lease ended.
"I just want to have my home be safe, clean and secure," Rachael said. "I just want them to fix the problem, and I don’t want to ask three, four, five times for it."
At the rally, many Ypsilanti renters showed up in support of 108 Washtenaw and Rachael.
For fear of retaliation from management at the 108 Washtenaw property, two tenants declined to be named but spoke about their experiences.
"When we first came here in Fall [2023], it was still managed by Beal. Our lease is still the same, but MTH has not really done any better than Beal. They’ve been very uncommunicative and very disorganized with dispatching maintenance work and responding to requests."
They’re also friends with Rachael, and have come out in support of their friend and neighbor.
"I don’t think [Rachael] should be penalized in this way just for trying to hold management accountable," said one of the unnamed sources.
Another tenant said that, at first, the landlords were in contact well at the beginning, but communication quickly got worse.
“It’s simply been frustrating, because it slowly faded into me not getting responses,” said the tenant.
Dave, a longtime resident of the property, and the “dad” of the community in the building, walked through the building to show some of the issues.
"[Communication] has varied from next day, two days later, with a reply from the property manager letting them know that this is what’s coming up and happening to you," Dave said.
Dave said that he and others in the protest hope that their latest efforts will improve the conditions for all the tenants at 108 Washtenaw and lead to better communication with their property managers.
MTH Property Management did not respond to The Echo's request for comment in time for the publication of this article.
