GREENSBORO, N.C. — Rosemary Peoples started to settle in for the night before going to bed. Her shelter for the night is her van. Peoples has been living in the van ever since the toilet in her apartment ruptured sending raw sewage throughout the apartment.
“There were feces all in here (living room),” Peoples said.
On the 3rd or 4th day in her van and after no immediate assistance from the apartment complex, Peoples reached out to News 2.
Peoples said she is tired and frustrated from sleeping on a rug with a blanket and pillow inside the van. On hot days, Peoples will turn the AC on in the van but that takes gas.
“It gets really hot during the day,” Peoples said.
We investigated and went inside the apartment to see for ourselves. The apartment had a disturbing smell and there were items scattered all over the home. Peoples had tried moving couches, washers, and other large items to clean the floors and rugs.
The bathroom was still a mess and there was raw sewage in the bathtub after the toilet ruptured. Floors in the kitchen had started to buckle from the water after the toilet overflowed.
“It is disgusting, it still smells really bad,” Peoples said.
After we took a tour of the apartment, we immediately contacted the apartment property manager to better understand what could be done.
The manager assured us it would address the issue right away and work to move Peoples into a new unit.
“It was a relief to move into another unit,” Peoples said. “Much better than my van.”
The new unit did have an unexpected visitor a couple of weeks after the move-in. Peoples found a bat in the bathroom, but maintenance was quick to remove it.
“It freaked me out. I’m glad you were able to get someone to get rid of it,” Peoples said.
The new unit has been perfect after the bat break-in and Peoples credits News 2 with helping to resolve both issues.
“Thank you so much,” Peoples said. “Thank you.”