Tony Battle and Alexis James lost their apartment Monday. So did Jerry Pinkston.
Faced with moving costs, as well as new rent and deposit costs, they face a limbo that is not uncommon in the Quad-Cities.
Battle and James live in the lower portion of the house at 2415 Farnam St. in Davenport, while Pinkston lives in the upper floor of the duplex, which was once a single-family dwelling.
The house was condemned Monday by the City of Davenport. The property is owned by Andrew Wold Investments, according to online Scott County property records.
Wold also owned the six-story apartment building at 324 Main St. in Davenport. The collapse of that building's west wall on May 28 killed three men, forced the amputation of a woman's leg to free her from the rubble, and left dozens of tenants without homes.
Battle and Pinkston were at the house at 2415 Farnam Monday morning while City of Davenport workers tapped notices to its doors.
Pinkston said he had been forced to stay away from his upper-floor apartment because of bed bugs and "dark water" coming out of his shower head. He said he has been staying "where he can" even before the city posted the notice for tenants to vacate the house. He paid $750 a month for the one-bedroom apartment.
Battle said he wasn't sure where he and James would go. Like Pinkston, they paid $750 a month for their one-bedroom apartment.
"We have lived here for a year and seven months," Battle said. "We just kept hoping that things would get better.
"When the sewage started coming up through the sink in the bathroom, though, that was it. We've tried to make it work here. We need a place to live."
The house at 2415 Farnam was built in 1910 and Wold purchased in October 2019 for $65,000 from Classic Properties Inc. The property's value was assessed at $115,000 this year.
James said the problems started not long after she and Battle moved into the first floor.
"There was this brown stain that grew on the ceiling in the kitchen," she said. "It was dark water and we called the property management company and they said they would fix it.
"Then there was the problem with the door."
Battle said their front door was broken from the moment they moved in.
"The lady that lived here before us died and they had to break down the door to get in," Battle said. "The property management people told us they would fix the door when we moved in. Nothing happened. Then, one month, they told us they would fix our door when we paid our rent.
"Nothing. Then they told me I could fix it myself. They said to nail a board around the frame. Finally they told us that the door just couldn't be fixed. That's what they said, like it was some problem that just couldn't be fixed."
Battle said he and James resorted to pushing a dresser in front of the door to keep it closed.
"One night before we barricaded it, the wind just blew the door open," Battle said. "I kept waiting to come home and find the door open and all our stuff gone."
Pinkston also said he had problems from "the minute" he moved in back in March.
"I couldn't get keys," he said. "And right away there were bed bugs. It drove me crazy every night and I tried to take showers to keep them off of me.
"When I moved in here, I was a car salesman. This place has ruined my health and kind of ruined me because I could not stay here."
Pinkston claimed the attic above his apartment has dead mice and other animals.
"That was bad, because the attic was supposed to be my storage space," Pinkston said. "Then the sewage or whatever it is started coming through the shower spout. That was it for me. I couldn't take it anymore."
James said the three tenants decided to speak up "to tell others about how tenants are treated in Davenport."
"We knew Wold or one of his companies owned this place," she said. "We didn't say anything earlier because we needed a place to live and finding a place is not easy.
"I work two jobs. Antonio (Tony Battle) works as a barber. We work hard to pay rent and have a place. Every time you have to move, it's like starting all over and it's expensive. I don't know what we are going to do."
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Faced with moving costs, as well as new rent and deposit costs, they face a limbo that is not uncommon in the Quad-Cities.
Battle and James live in the lower portion of the house at 2415 Farnam St. in Davenport, while Pinkston lives in the upper floor of the duplex, which was once a single-family dwelling.
The house was condemned Monday by the City of Davenport. The property is owned by Andrew Wold Investments, according to online Scott County property records.
Wold also owned the six-story apartment building at 324 Main St. in Davenport. The collapse of that building's west wall on May 28 killed three men, forced the amputation of a woman's leg to free her from the rubble, and left dozens of tenants without homes.
Battle and Pinkston were at the house at 2415 Farnam Monday morning while City of Davenport workers tapped notices to its doors.
Pinkston said he had been forced to stay away from his upper-floor apartment because of bed bugs and "dark water" coming out of his shower head. He said he has been staying "where he can" even before the city posted the notice for tenants to vacate the house. He paid $750 a month for the one-bedroom apartment.
Battle said he wasn't sure where he and James would go. Like Pinkston, they paid $750 a month for their one-bedroom apartment.
"We have lived here for a year and seven months," Battle said. "We just kept hoping that things would get better.
"When the sewage started coming up through the sink in the bathroom, though, that was it. We've tried to make it work here. We need a place to live."
The house at 2415 Farnam was built in 1910 and Wold purchased in October 2019 for $65,000 from Classic Properties Inc. The property's value was assessed at $115,000 this year.
James said the problems started not long after she and Battle moved into the first floor.
"There was this brown stain that grew on the ceiling in the kitchen," she said. "It was dark water and we called the property management company and they said they would fix it.
"Then there was the problem with the door."
Battle said their front door was broken from the moment they moved in.
"The lady that lived here before us died and they had to break down the door to get in," Battle said. "The property management people told us they would fix the door when we moved in. Nothing happened. Then, one month, they told us they would fix our door when we paid our rent.
"Nothing. Then they told me I could fix it myself. They said to nail a board around the frame. Finally they told us that the door just couldn't be fixed. That's what they said, like it was some problem that just couldn't be fixed."
Battle said he and James resorted to pushing a dresser in front of the door to keep it closed.
"One night before we barricaded it, the wind just blew the door open," Battle said. "I kept waiting to come home and find the door open and all our stuff gone."
Pinkston also said he had problems from "the minute" he moved in back in March.
"I couldn't get keys," he said. "And right away there were bed bugs. It drove me crazy every night and I tried to take showers to keep them off of me.
"When I moved in here, I was a car salesman. This place has ruined my health and kind of ruined me because I could not stay here."
Pinkston claimed the attic above his apartment has dead mice and other animals.
"That was bad, because the attic was supposed to be my storage space," Pinkston said. "Then the sewage or whatever it is started coming through the shower spout. That was it for me. I couldn't take it anymore."
James said the three tenants decided to speak up "to tell others about how tenants are treated in Davenport."
"We knew Wold or one of his companies owned this place," she said. "We didn't say anything earlier because we needed a place to live and finding a place is not easy.
"I work two jobs. Antonio (Tony Battle) works as a barber. We work hard to pay rent and have a place. Every time you have to move, it's like starting all over and it's expensive. I don't know what we are going to do."
Davenport orders another Wold property vacated, tenants say sewage overflowed into sinks
Oct. 30—Tony Battle and Alexis James lost their apartment Monday. So did Jerry Pinkston.
