Attorney General's Office finds dire living conditions at Hubbard Gardens

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis apartment complex with sewage coming from the pipes of some units is now on the state's radar.

The Indiana Attorney General's Office visited residents of Hubbard Gardens apartments on Thursday.

WRTV

WRTV's Rachael Wilkerson went back to the complex and found people are still dealing with a mess.

A buckling floor is part of the reason. Thelma Ivory said she had to abandon her apartment.

WRTV

"It was roach infested and everything. I can't do it. You got sewage, sh** coming up in the sink. I can't do it," said Ivory.

She said the floor has been flooded with sewage water.

People living in different buildings at Hubbard Gardens told WRTV they're also struggling with sewage and drainage.

VIEW | Hubbard Gardens residents speak about the dire living conditions

"Electronics, sink, compactor, none of that works, and it floods out," said Christopher Reid.

"My sink hasn't been working for months. I've already had them come fix it. It messed right back up," said Keith Perry. "It'll get real nasty looking. It develops this terrible smell. It's definitely breathtaking. My tub also overflows and goes into the person below me, and they come up complaining to me all the time about it, as if I can do something about it. He's an elderly man, and I know it really gets to him that he has to deal with stuff like that."

WRTV

The Indiana Attorney General's office is now stepping in. A spokesperson said the following:

"Our office went to Hubbard Gardens apartments to speak with residents and better understand the situation they are dealing with. What we found was dire living conditions, which included issues like sinks being flooded with sewage. We are discussing next steps that we can take on this matter and encourage all Hoosiers dealing with something like this to file a complaint with our office at indianaconsumer.com."

WRTV noticed a sewage company was on site and Lauretha Fuller said some changes have been made.

"They did move my daughter to another apartment, but there's other residents in the building that still need help. So, I'm hoping that this will resolve it, or get the ball rolling to get this resolved, because no one should have to live under these conditions," she said.

WRTV

A spokesperson for Hubbard Gardens said its management team is "aware of and responding to the unanticipated, yet ongoing plumbing issues." Their full statement is as follows:

"The Hubbard Gardens Apartments management team is aware of and responding to the unanticipated, yet ongoing plumbing issues. All impacted residents have been provided support and staff has transferred residents to non-affected units as needed. A large majority of the initial plumbing issues have been remedied, however new repair needs have been identified upon further investigation related to plumbing issues on City property. We continue to work in partnership with the City and Citizen's Utilities to address these issues and apologize for the inconvenience this issue has caused."

WRTV

In response, Citizens Utilities said:

"Citizens understands this to be a private issue which occurred because the apartment’s lateral wastewater pipes were clogged. Citizens' main lines have been operational and flowing at all times. Our crew did note a heavy amount of grease from the apartments' laterals while on-site to advise a plumber who had been hired by the apartment.

The Marion County Public Health Department is also taking the property owners to court over failure to bring some issues into compliance.