Landlord still hasn’t fixed Ravenna man’s collapsed bathroom ceiling

RAVENNA, Ohio (WOIO) - Ravenna renter Sean Carter told 19 News he’s been fighting an uphill battle against his landlord ever since his bathroom ceiling collapsed.

“Mold, it’s spiders,” Carter said. “It’s if you look up in that hole it’s like a movie like chronicles of Narnia you walk through the closet and it’s like a different world and it’s like for me to stand under there and try to be clean it’s just inappropriate, it’s embarrassing.”

A little over 3 weeks ago 19 News confronted Carter’s landlord. He assured us his ceiling would be fixed the next day, but it looked the same when we came back.

“I actually have a text message of him telling me you can look at the ceiling until you leave,” said Carter.

Carter showed us text messages he sent the landlord for months asking him to fix the leak. He even has progress photos of the ceiling that show the leak got worse.

“He came on the 1st and asked me, ‘Where is the rent?’ and I’m like, ‘Uh sir, you still have not fixed my shower’ and the video that I presented was him trying to convince me that I can take a shower with a whole moldy ceiling up top and it’s just unacceptable.”

19 News called Carter’s landlord James Gardener again Friday.

“The leak was fixed the next day I have receipts proving so,” Gardener said.

We asked him why he hadn’t fixed the ceiling.

“The ceiling I will replace when he moves because he created the ceiling episode,” said Gardener.

Gardener claims that because carter had his phone in the shower and because of the way the debris fell he believes carter tore the ceiling down himself and says he plans to sue him for property damage.

“If he’s so distraught as you say he is then please let him go somewhere else,” Gardener. “I’ll fix the ceiling and rent the apartment tomorrow.”

Carter said the whole ordeal has been stressful for him and for his family.

“Me my family it’s kind of embarrassing to me because when I have to go seek for shelter,” Carter. “I don’t want nobody else to be trapped to the way I was trapped because a home is supposed to be safety, you’re supposed to feel good.”

Carter plans on moving out as soon as possible and he says he plans on filing a lawsuit against his landlord too.

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