Following Schumer's Push, Federal Dept Of Housing And Urban Development Will Conduct In-Depth Inspection Of Living Conditions & Management Of Towne Garden Apartments In Buffalo This Summer -- Next Inspection Was Not Set To Be Conducted Until 2016, But Schumer Urged Feds To Launch Inspection ASAP After Complaints From Residents Revealed Deplorable Conditions

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer said that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will be launching a comprehensive inspection of the living conditions and management at the Towne Garden apartment complex in Buffalo this summer. Schumer explained that residents of the federally-subsidized apartment building have long complained of broken toilets, mold, leaking roofs, not enough heat, and parking lot lights that have been inoperable for months. The United States Postal Service was forced to stop delivering mail at one point during the winter due to unplowed pathways that proved hazardous for postal employees. And worst of all, Schumer said, a sewer backed up into one woman's apartment and was not cleaned up for over a week, forcing her to live with raw sewage in her bathtub and on her floor.

Following these complaints of deplorable living conditions by residents, HUD conducted a limited review of the complex in May, in which it inspected just five units in the 302-unit complex. As a result, Schumer called for a top-to-bottom investigation to ensure residents have a safe place to live. Schumer said the next review for the Towne Garden apartments was not set to be completed until 2016, but he urged HUD to conduct the investigation as soon as possible because residents could not afford to wait. Now, following his push, HUD has agreed to complete this thorough review this summer in order to find solutions to these problems, improve the poor living conditions, and resolve the persistent code violations at the complex. The inspection is expected to take place this August.

"An expedited top-to-bottom investigation by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development will directly address the poor the living conditions are at the Towne Garden complex and highlight what can be done immediately to improve them. The fact that families and seniors were subjected to such horrible conditions is just unacceptable," said Schumer. "So the fact that this review will be conducted this summer, instead of waiting until 2016, is welcome news. If what we have heard from residents who have voiced their concerns proves to be the standard for the entire building, then HUD has some serious work to do. So I will keep pushing the federal agency to take action and establish long-term fixes and to hold accountable the owners, because Towne Garden residents deserve to live in a safe and secure building."

The Towne Gardens complex in Buffalo is federally subsidized and has been documented for health and safety code violations for months. Schumer said that while the complex received a just-passing grade of 81b on their Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) assessment in 2014 -- and therefore the next planned assessment is not scheduled until 2016 -- circumstances at Towne Gardens clearly warrant more immediate action from HUD. Therefore, in May, Schumer said the limited review HUD preformed -- where staff investigated conditions at five of the 302 federally subsidized apartments -- was a step in the right direction, however more had to be done. Schumer urged HUD to perform a more in-depth inspection as soon as possible to look at any major health, safety and security risks to residents, as soon as possible.

Schumer said Buffalo HUD's office management and occupancy review was a step in the right direction. However, Schumer said he believes the fact that they were only able to investigate five units initially was not enough to address the sub-standard living conditions. Schumer said this limited inspection likely did not give the full picture of the multitude of negative quality-of-life issues residents are experiencing, and, therefore, urged HUD to promptly schedule and conduct a more comprehensive inspection of the complex as soon as possible.

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