ROYAL OAK, Mich. – Nearly 60 residents of the Village Club Apartments in Royal Oak had to find somewhere else to stay due to flooding in their units.
There’s a big question about who should have to pay for the drain issue blamed for the mess.
Residents, like Marie Ferguson, tried to handle the water and tried to save her belongings with a 3-month-old baby in her arms.
“A maintenance guy came and said, ‘You gotta get out of here, you will have sparks flying if it gets higher,‘” Ferguson said.
Water was coming through the walls inside Mitchell Carter’s unit.
“Where am I going to go? I have thousands of dollars of property destroyed,” Carter said. “Who is going to pay for this?”
Renters said renters insurance isn’t going to pay because floods aren’t covered.
Property ownership is blaming city of Royal Oak drains for not being able to handle heavy rain, but the drains are on their property. The management team has been in contact with the city, so has the Local 4 Defenders. The city manager’s office and Department of Public Works told Local 4 that since the drains are on the apartment property, it is the responsibility of the apartment management and ownership.
The complex is giving residents $250 and telling them to move to some of their properties in Troy.