‘Significant’ maintenance, safety concerns cited at KC apartments: ‘A health hazard’
Khadejah Convert and her family have lived with the roaches and mice, the dust, the cracks in the foundation of their Kansas City apartment building, and the unfixed maintenance problems, like a toilet that shifts and a leaky tub.
Just across the parking lot from their front door in the Olive Park Village apartment complex in Kansas City, they can see the burned-out shell of another building that was torched by a fire last month. Last year, bullets came flying through their unit after gunfire erupted out in the parking lot. Trash and discarded furniture have built up around a dumpster near their unit for months.
When they’re home, Convert keeps her kids inside but also tries to arrange their schedules to keep them away from home. She’s ready to move.
“It’s been a lot, to the point where it is stressful,” Convert said Friday, standing on her front step.
She said she has lived in the complex for 11 years and has watched it deteriorate in recent years.
“Lately I haven’t been paying rent,” she said. “I’ve let it collect. I have to use that money to move. I really cannot sit up here and keep paying ya’ll rent for something ya’ll don’t want to take care of. It’s a health hazard to me and my kids. At this point, I’m getting up out of here.”
The complex is owned by Millennia Housing Management, a large property management company based in Cleveland, Ohio, that has faced scrutiny for mismanagement problems at other properties it owns. The company has properties in 21 states, including two others in Kansas City, according to the group’s website.
The company didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday.
Millennia Housing Management
Boarded-up doors and windows, broken glass and abandoned units are common in the Olive Park Village complex. A sign on the door at the leasing office declares that the site is out of compliance with city codes governing rentals.
In a statement sent to The Star Friday, Kansas City spokeswoman Sherae Honeycutt said the city was assessing “significant property maintenance and safety concerns” at the complex. No buildings at the site have been condemned, but one building, the burned-out structure, is considered dangerous, according to the city.
“The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has informed the City that, due to the property’s condition, its housing vouchers can no longer be used at this location,” Honeycutt said. “In response, the City is working with the Housing Authority of Kansas City and federal partners to support the safe relocation of residents. Our focus is ensuring residents receive the guidance and resources they need during this transition. Additional information will be shared as plans move forward.”
HUD said it has issued a default notice to Millennia for Section 8 contracts it has, and said the agency is beginning a formal process to provide special vouchers and relocation assistance for eligible households.
“This action is being taken because of the owner’s failure to remedy physical deficiencies which are major threats to health and safety at the property, and to maintain the property in decent, safe, and sanitary condition,” HUD said in a statement.
In a news conference Wednesday, city officials slammed Millennia and said they were looking for new residences and moving assistance for those still living at Olive Park Village.
“(Millennia has) demonstrated yet again that they are unwilling to show humanity when they take care of their residents,” Kansas City Council member Melissa Patterson Hazley said. “This is not the first time that I personally have tried to find ways to hold this particular landlord accountable. Those things have continued to fall on deaf ears.”
Last year, HUD, the federal housing agency, banned Millennia from getting new federal contracts, including for the Section 8 housing assistance program, for five years, citing concerns about taxpayer funds, according to news reports.
“HUD found that Millennia Housing Management exercised financial mismanagement of tenant security deposit accounts and taxpayer funds providing housing assistance,” the agency said in a statement to the Atlanta Civic Circle in December 2023 when it was announced that HUD was pursuing the ban.
Millenia sued HUD last year in an attempt to turn back more than $7 million in civil penalties it said the federal government was attempting to impose. A federal judge ruled against Millennia earlier this year, and the company is appealing.
Millennia founder and CEO Frank Sinito stepped down from his role with the company in June.
Problems at Olive Park Village
According to the Olive Park Village website, rents are based on income level and are calculated at 30% of each household’s combined adjusted income.
“Our spacious 1, 2, 3, and 4 bedroom apartment homes are thoughtfully designed with your comfort and convenience in mind,” Olive Park Village’s website boasts. “In addition to our great floor plans and maintenance free living, our community has the amenities you want and deserve. For your pleasure, our community features playgrounds, laundry facility, off-street parking, and a social service coordinator.”
Passion Paris, an Olive Park Village resident of more than 12 years, has two cats, a dog and a turtle. The felines, she said, help with the mice problem.
People regularly break into unoccupied units, roaches are an issue and maintenance issues go unresolved, Paris said. In one room in her unit, a switch no longer works, and she has to unscrew a bulb to turn off the light, she said. Her toilet leaked, and she had mold in her kitchen. When maintenance staff did address the mold, they didn’t clean it up and instead just covered it over with plaster and paint, she said.
She has three kids, and the situation gives her anxiety.
“It’s really scary,” she said, unsure of where she would go if she were forced to leave her home.
“They don’t come fix anything for the last several years,” she said. “We’ve just kind of been on our own, really.”
This story was originally published November 23, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
