Call 4 Action: Tenants flooded, forced to evacuate Lockport apartment building

LOCKPORT, N.Y. (WIVB) – The Call 4 Action team fielded several complaints about a property management company based in Pittsburgh that has apartments in Western New York, and now, News 4 is getting more complaints from tenants of Birgo Realty after they were flooded out of their units.

This is the third time News 4 has reported on properties owned and operated by Birgo Realty. Previous complaints include not having hot water at a building in the Village of Hamburg and sewage backups at a Birgo property in the Town of Tonawanda.

This time, residents at a separate property have had to evacuate due to damage from flooding.

Tenants on the ground floor of one building at Maplewood Apartments in the Town of Lockport were flooded a month ago after WNY had a series of winter storms that hit the area.

Birgo Realty says there was a surge of stormwater that overwhelmed the property’s sump pumps, resulting in eight units flooding, several hallways and laundry rooms. The Town of Lockport was called on to clear storm drains. One tenant remains on the ground floor and she says it’s been a nightmare.

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“Disgusting, knowing that they couldn’t do anything for me and not only that scared because of all the water seepage that there’s black mold under this carpet,” said Donna Walsh.

The property has been in the process of remediation, but that hasn’t been easy. Birgo says one restoration company canceled on them early in the process. It’s taken another company weeks to dry out the building.

There is still no date that has been set on when all the cleanup efforts will be completed.

Birgo Realty says the company provided relocation options for residents impacted, but with Walsh’s situation, relocating isn’t easy because of her mobility issues. But, she said she was finally able to find another place to live starting next week.

“I don’t want other people to have to go through what I went through and since this is the fourth time that this happened I wanted other people to know that every two years this downstairs floods,” Walsh said.