"It's been an absolute nightmare since we moved in here," said Hinchcliffe.

The condo was the first home the couple, in their mid-20s, ever owned. They live there with their 4-year-old son and 1-month-old daughter.

Their home was one of five units at Gateway, a 150-unit complex at 229-233 Ellington Road, deemed uninhabitable Monday because of significant water damage. The main causes of the damage were defective roof drains and a leaking sky light, town officials said.

The three-building complex was purchased by Milio Realty of Yonkers, N.Y., five weeks ago.

Hinchcliffe toured his home Tuesday. In his children's' bedroom, his son's bed is taken apart and pushed to the corner, away from a hole cut in the ceiling and a large garbage can underneath, to catch the water from the roof that seeped into his home, he said.

In other parts of the home, he had to replace laminated flooring that curled up from water damage, a cabinet that stunk of mold, and a whole staircase, he said. In all, the couple spent $6,000, half covered by insurance, to fix their condo, Hinchcliffe said.

After constant setbacks and no responses from management for months, the family had to leave their home after it was declared uninhabitable by the town inspector, he said.
"I'm gone, I'm ready to get out of here - this is ridiculous," he said.

The issues with water drainage at the five units caused portions of apartment ceilings to leak and collapse, and rugs and furniture to become completely soaked, Hinchcliffe said.

Four of the units reopened to residents on Tuesday, but certain rooms were kept closed for further repairs.

At the property Tuesday, Carmelo Milio, one of the managers, said, "All the problems that have occurred came from the old management's mishaps."

Milio Realty's subsidiary owns 99 of the 150 units and is the new management company for Gateway. Milio purchased the complex from Marco Seidmann of Scarsdale, N.Y., June 15, according to town records.

Milio said the company first heard about the water issues on Monday. The company rushed over five workers from New York the next day, he said, and already fixed "95 percent of roof repairs" during Tuesday's downpour.

Milio said all roof and condo repairs should be completed by the end of the week, and tenants were being accommodated in other units when needed.

"This is just another hurdle that we're going over to get this property up to par," Milio said.

Still, Klesser doubted that Milio heard about leakage problems only this week, since she has been mailing letters to the company about the problems for two months, she said.
Bonnie Nichols, director of inspections and permits, said Milio Realty has been "very cooperative" in fixing the leakage problem.

She said the town and owners are taking the problem seriously. Building inspectors will continue checking units for additional issues and health inspectors will survey homes for mold and mildew, Nichols said.

Two years ago, Gateway had drainage issues that were since resolved, said Gregg Donato, the inspections and permits housing supervisor.

The Gateway buildings were built in 1969 and 1976.

Another couple who started renting at Gateway in May now sleeps in another unit with just a mattress on the floor.
Zack Fuller, 24, and Julie Kancler, 20, left their unit Monday and couldn't come back because of health concerns, since Kancler is six-months pregnant.

The couple complained that their ceilings had major leaks during storms and said the smell of mildew at their upstairs bedroom caused them to go sleep downstairs more than once.

Fuller said there are plenty of other apartments with similar problems, and had digital photographs of other unit's ceilings with large caved in holes.

At their apartment, there are two holes cut into the ceiling corner and a pile of baby furniture covered under a blanket in another corner, shielded from the leaks.

"These guys, they just left us stranded," Fuller said.