LANSING, Mich. — You may remember Bryan Douglas from a story we did earlier this week. The Autumn Ridge Townhomes and Apartments resident says he’s been stressed after a red tag was placed on his unit.
“They just moved me in, making me think everything was fine and dandy, knowing that the place was condemned,” Douglas said.
The city of Lansing said Autumn Ridge has over 26 red tagged units and that the whole complex is pink tagged. Autumn Ridge's corporate office dismissed the city’s claims saying there are only seven red tagged, and those units aren’t occupied by tenants. But a lease Douglas provided us with says otherwise.
Since doing the story, we’ve gotten a lot of complaints from residents about Autumn Ridge.
“We have dealt with mice infestation, bed bugs, when I say rodents, I even saw a raccoon looking at my grand baby one time,” said Autumn Ridge resident Rosalyn Williams.
Some of the complaints, even came with pictures that show destroyed parking garages, scattered trash and boarded up windows.
“I just want them to know that this is not okay to do to people,” Douglas said.
But red tagging isn’t just an issue at Autumn Ridge. It’s a problem that’s been lingering in Lansing for quite some time. We’re told Lansing currently has over 700 red tags placed.
“It’s just unacceptable,” said Lansing City Council member Ryan Kost. “We should stop beating around the word of landlords, cause I've seen these properties, they’re slumlords.”
Kost has been vocal about addressing the red tag issue since the beginning of his term.
“If something is red tagged, to me that’s an emergency situation,” Kost said.
Kost says what makes the situation even worse is a lot of landlords are still renting out the red tagged units, even though it’s technically illegal.
Two weeks ago, the city’s code enforcement went to check out about 50 red tag locations, and out of those, tenants were living in at least 10 of them.
“It’s unacceptable that we allow these folks to show such disregard to human life and continue to do it,” Kost said.
But now, the city is cracking down on landlords who rent out red tagged units saying there could be a $500 fine and up to 93 days in jail if convicted. As Lansing continues to try and address the issue, residents impacted by it are just asking for one thing.
"People keep asking what I need, I need a place that I can call my own, that’s safe, where I can house me, my kids and my stuff,” Williams said.
