Cincinnati One of Cincinnati’s biggest low-income housing providers was connected to two high-profile murders that occurred in Over-the-Rhine in June.
The charity Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) is currently under investigation after tenants and neighbors claim that their buildings are rife with violent criminals, rats, and raw sewage, and that their requests for assistance are being disregarded.
I tried contacting the city council, but they completely ignored the matter and didn’t even reply. Sherri Barber, who lives with her three small children in a West End home adjacent to a POAH multi-family complex with what seems to be raw sewage in the backyard, stated, “No one has ever reached out to me.”
WATCH: One of Cincinnati’s biggest low-income housing providers was connected to two high-profile murders in Over-the-Rhine. We investigate them.
Neighbors and renters in the West End, Over-the-Rhine, and Pendleton complained to the WCPO 9 I-Team about dilapidated houses that had damaged doors, windows, gates, fire escapes, fencing, and locks, making it simple for criminals to enter POAH buildings.
A lifelong resident of Over-the-Rhine who regularly complains about issues at POAH buildings, John Donaldson, stated that POAH is renowned for leaving their buildings unguarded, which is an issue.
Mordecia Black and his girlfriend were sleeping at a POAH multi-family home at 1713 and 1715 Vine Street two months prior to Black’s alleged stabbing of prominent gym owner Patrick Heringer in his Over-the-Rhine residence.
Minutes before an intruder stabbed Patrick Heringer inside his neighboring home on June 4, surveillance footage shows a guy who is thought to be Black leaving the Vine Street building at 4 a.m. with a knife.
How he entered the building is a mystery to me. Someone opened the door for him. Donaldson stated that he is not a renter there. For the twenty years that I have lived here, the structure (1713–1715 Vine) has been unprotected. The homeless return there, engage in OD, fence items, and so on. It’s where everything goes.
Rasheed Mills, 16, was shot in the chest inside a POAH apartment on the 1300 block of Vine Street two weeks later.A 14-year-old boy was charged with murder by Cincinnati police.
According to Noah O. Brien, vice president of the West End Community Council, “they’re sleeping at the wheel while kids get murdered, Patrick gets murdered.” We must take action. POAH won’t resolve the issue. Without a doubt, the city council won’t fix it.Therefore, a lawsuit is the community’s only realistic hope.
In 2024, a number of West End campaigners and citizens, including O Brien, complained to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development about the city.
Instead of dispersing low-income housing as required by the Fair Housing Act, they accuse city officials of exploiting federal funds to concentrate it too much in the poorest, Black communities.
According to O Brien, nonprofit organizations—the POAHs of the world—do not have the resources to properly preserve these buildings. A security service will visit and drive by properties for other developers. When there are open-air drug sales, violent crimes, and other incidents occurring in front of and within these (POAH) buildings, no one is monitoring the security.
After the public repeatedly and repeatedly complained about POAH, the I-Team spent two months looking into the matter.
In this instance, which involves a nonprofit that offers low-income housing, the city has not pursued the same course of action as it has in the past when it has sued private firms like VineBrook Homes for causing a public nuisance.
It s a feeding frenzy
Operating in 13 states, POAH is a nationwide nonprofit organization. It owns 969 units spread across 148 buildings in Cincinnati.
With assistance from the city and the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, POAH purchased numerous historic structures from The Model Group in 2018 in the West End, Pendleton, and Over-the-Rhine.
One renter at a POAH home on Vine Street remarked, “We have to beg and beg to get timely help.” For fear of eviction, WCPO protected the tenant’s identity.
The renter stated that although it was wonderful when I first moved in, there has been wear and tear over the years. They will not promptly come out and fix the problem.
The tenant’s apartment hasn’t been painted in fourteen years, has electrical problems, and missing ceiling lights.
Rats are here. The renter said, “We need rat traps because they’re big.” A feeding frenzy occurs when a trash can is left open without a lid.
The Vine Street apartments at POAH offer hardwood flooring, ceramic tile kitchens and bathrooms, double-hung windows, pedestal vanities, new wood cabinets, and wainscoting chair-rails in the halls, according to their website.
We don t enforce
The I-Team found a number of problems after reviewing complaints and code breaches at two properties, 1713/1715 Vine Street and 1704 Vine Street.
There are four apartments in the building where I live. Human waste is continuously present in the communal spaces of the residential buildings. Once or twice a month, the landlord sends someone to clean the common spaces. One tenant wrote to city enforcement officials in February 2024, saying, “I’ve brought this up with the landlord multiple times, but the strategy has not changed [].”
16 months ago, city inspectors started requesting that POAH repair or remove the deteriorated fencing, replace the old and cracked flooring, replace the broken windows, and get rid of rodents and insects from the property at 1713 Vine Street.
City officials added further abatement fees when the I-Team inquired about the progress of these repairs last week, increasing the total amount owed to $233.
Additionally, POAH was frequently urged by inspectors to fix two fire escapes at 1704 Vine Street that had unresolved issues for almost two years.
On July 13, two individuals can be seen pulling down a fire escape and climbing up to an unlocked window, which allows them to enter 1704 Vine, according to surveillance footage that the I-Team was able to get.
We don’t enforce. “You can’t expect the behaviors to change if you don’t enforce,” Donaldson added. Although it goes against the politics of the city council, everything down here is solvable and not particularly difficult. They do not wish to enforce this. POAH might be held responsible for several of these things.
Despite refusing to be interviewed, city officials released the following statement: Residents have informed city officials about problems at a number of properties, and they are meeting with POAH to talk about cooperative solutions. In addition to continuing enforcement action from buildings & inspections and other municipal agencies, the city has made it plain to POAH that issues must be addressed and that it will collaborate closely with them to see that they are rectified.
In addition to declining an interview, POAH leadership responded in writing to WCPO’s inquiries.
We understand concerns about code violations and want to emphasize that we focus on addressing root causes, not just paying fines. While fines have occasionally been paid when immediate compliance wasn t feasible, we have since made significant repairs. Our goal is always to resolve issues promptly and consistently, according to a POAH statement.
POAH s spokesperson said it has installed new gate locks, adjusted entry points to reduce unauthorized visitors, and is adding more security cameras at certain locations.
The nonprofit is also planning monthly resident meetings and introductory letters to help residents get to know their property management and maintenance teams.
Broken windows are secured immediately upon discovery, with replacements ordered promptly We are committed to ongoing site improvements and address sewage issues immediately upon notification, according to a POAH spokesperson.
Scared to talk
When the I-Team visited Barber at her West End home, we witnessed what looked and smelled like raw sewage coming from a pipe in the backyard of the POAH property next door.
I ve reached out to POAH multiple times. I ve been given the runaround because they actually have no people in the city that manage their properties, Barber said. You can never get a hold of anyone. You call a dispatch center, and they re like, ‘Someone will get back to you,’ but they never will. It s been over a year and a half.
Sewage also backed up into a tenant s kitchen sink, according to a photo provided to the I-Team.
It s very evident that they have a sewer line breakage, and that s tens of thousands of dollars to fix, Barber said. Toilet paper and excrement and things are now being pumped out It s just a horrible living condition and situation for everyone.
In Pendleton, Neighborhood Council president Shirley Rosenzweig is upset about overflowing trash cans outside POAH apartment buildings, where residents dump food and trash out their windows. It has led to a major rat problem.
You cannot have this issue affecting everyone. It cannot be this way, Rosenzweig said.
She repeatedly reports the problems and city inspectors issue citations, And they clean up, but the next day it is again full of trash if they pay their citation, there is not much the city can do.
It is the same problem that Donaldson said he deals with daily in Over-the-Rhine outside POAH buildings.
They need to manage their properties. Their properties are unmanaged, they don t have enough people and they don t take the problems seriously enough, Donaldson said. Everybody deserves clean and safe housing, and that s not just the tenants who live in there, but it s also the neighborhood.
Critics say that neglect creates an environment where crime and violence can flourish.
Five or six weeks ago, one of the tenants threatened to kill me. He said you talk to me again, I will come over here and blow your brains out, Barber said.
Residents and neighbors are afraid to speak out, O Brien said.
People are scared to talk about the POAH buildings. They don t want retaliation from people who live in the POAH buildings who break the law, O Brien said. I m going to be honest with you, my wife isn t happy that I m talking to you right now. There s a risk. There s a real risk.
