Tenants Call Him A Slumlord

Mobile House Fire Tenants in Mobile's Plateau community says their housing complaints are falling on deaf ears.

by Tiffany Craig

Published: Tue, November 18, 2008 - 6:25 pm CST Last Updated: Tue, November 18, 2008 - 6:39 pm CST

A "slumlord" that's what some tenants are calling their landlord in Mobile's Plateau community.

Jackie Smith says she called the owner for help after her power started flickering and cracks started forming in her walls. No one ever showed up so she stopped paying rent!

Smith's complaint about landlord Nelson Adams came after Monday's electrical fire on Newman Street.

Cassandra Clark says she asked Adams to look at the wiring but he never showed up. "I told my landlord that the wiring and stuff up in there needed to be fixed and it was just ignored. I constantly told him about it and he constantly ignored me."

We got Nelson Adams on the phone. He says he has problems with many of his tenants in Plateau and that most are behind on their rent. "They all know the type tenants they've been and the type activities involved in and I should have had them arrested a long time ago."

Investigators have ruled Monday's fire as accidental but Adams is not even convinced of that. "I'm gathering information on that. I don't think it was an accident. I'll leave it at that."

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southfan1981 Says:

Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 9:32 pm

Other cities have an inspector (Chickasaw) who makes sure that the rentals are safe and meet standards. Before you stop paying your rent, I would think this would be a better solution. Call code enforcement!