Wilmington officials to inspect public housing after seniors decry conditions

Why Should Delaware Care? 
Affordable Housing has been a persistent theme in Wilmington, with debates over subsidies for developers and rent stabilization. Now a different fight is also emerging at some of the few affordable apartments available for the city’s seniors, with some saying their publicly supported homes are falling short of basic living standards. 

Wilmington city officials are set to inspect several publicly supported high-rise housing complexes after residents brought a list of complaints to City Council last week, saying management entities, including the Wilmington Housing Authority, have failed to address poor living conditions that have persisted for months.

More than 50 senior residents came to last week’s Wilmington City Council meeting with complaints about months of living conditions in publicly supported housing, citing inconsistent hot water, rodents, bedbugs, flood damage, mold, broken elevators and unsanitary common areas.

“At my age, I shouldn’t have to live like this,” said Willette Taylor, a Wilmington senior living in the downtown Wilmington Windsor Apartments.

The City Council meeting was scheduled by Council President Ernest ‘Trippi’ Congo to discuss the “ongoing issues impacting seniors in high-rises.”

After hearing almost two hours of public testimony, Congo criticized the Wilmington Housing Authority, which manages at least three of the complexes that were discussed during the meeting. He said there may need to be a conversation around the ownership of the WHA buildings and that the agency “does not deserve to be the managers” of the buildings anymore.

“It’s obvious that WHA has failed in their responsibility as being decent landlords,” Congo said. “And I think at some point we have to kind of stop being so nice to them and put them on notice.”

But Caroline Klinger, spokeswoman for Mayor John Carney’s office, called Congo’s proposal “unrealistic.” 

She noted that the city does not have the sole authority to take buildings away from WHA and transfer them elsewhere, as the entity is authorized and funded by the state and federal government. 

“These buildings are heavily subsidized because of WHA’s ownership, and shifting that ownership would result in drastic, unaffordable rent increases for seniors and our most vulnerable residents,” Klinger said in an email to Spotlight Delaware. 

Although the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections will conduct inspections to address residents’ concerns, Congo said he wants City Council to continue discussing the conditions at publicly supported housing.

“We have to figure out wherever the next step is, how is it going to be impactful,” Congo said.

Senior residents protest living conditions

The public housing concerns surfaced late last month when Windsor Apartments residents protested outside the Walnut Street building, demanding management address monthlong problems with inconsistent hot water, bedbugs, pests, mold and incomplete repairs. 

Among them was Michelle Webster, who has lived at the complex for three years. Webster previously told Spotlight Delaware that mold, water damage and bedbugs had gone unaddressed in her apartment for months. She said the conditions have even kept her grandchildren from visiting because they fear being bitten.

Spotlight Delaware visited Webster’s apartment and observed mold in the bathroom, ceiling damage, and rotting wood on the cabinets.

In response, Webster and two other residents said they intend to withhold their rent and instead place it into Wilmington’s newly established rent escrow account.  

Passed last December, the rent escrow gives renters a city-managed account to house their withheld rent when a landlord fails to provide basic amenities, such as hot water, heat, or electricity.

Under Delaware Law, tenants can withhold two-thirds of their daily rent if their landlord does not provide such vital items. 

Several individuals present at last week’s meeting voiced similar concerns about the complex. 

Windsor is owned and operated by Arbor Management, which is an affiliate of Leon N. Weiner & Associates (LNWA), a Delaware-based affordable housing developer. The building operates under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Section-8 and Low Income Housing Tax Credit programs. 

Tim Lamberto, vice president of Arbor Management, told Spotlight Delaware the agency has received residents’ concerns and acknowledged that maintaining a 14-story building can be complex. He said management is scheduling a resident meeting within the next 30 days.

“Residents have every right to expect us to address problems promptly and thoroughly, and management is working diligently to address the issues,” Lamberto said in an emailed statement. 

Lamberto said extensive repairs have been made to drain lines throughout the building. He also said the cause of the hot-water issues has been identified, and a contractor has been hired to repair the system. That work is expected to begin shortly, he said.

When bed bugs are reported, Lamberto said, an exterminator treats the affected areas and conducts follow-up inspections.

“We are committed to keeping the residents informed,” Lamberto said. “We will inform residents when work is scheduled to begin, keep them updated on its progress and follow up on individual concerns.”

Residents raise concerns across WHA properties

More than 50 residents attended Wednesday’s City Council meeting, with almost two dozen speaking about living conditions in their housing complexes.

Most of the residents at the meeting came from Windsor Apartments, Compton Towers, Crestview Apartments, and Park View Apartments, though others attended from additional affordable housing communities.

Crestview, Compton and Park View are owned and operated by the Wilmington Housing Authority. 

During the meeting, residents criticized WHA for how it has managed the complexes. 

“The Wilmington Housing Authority, if you lived here, you would do better,” said Kathleen Johnson, a Compton Towers resident. 

Officials from the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections, Wilmington Police Department and Wilmington Housing Authority were also present to hear residents’ concerns.

Congo said similar meetings to discuss conditions in Wilmington Housing Authority-owned properties were held last year and in 2022, with Councilman Coby Owens hosting the 2025 meeting.

Residents from Park View, Compton Towers and Crestview raised concerns about unclean common areas, pests, a lack of security and broken elevators in the complexes. 

Sandra Parker and Tracy Jordan, who serve on the Crestview Resident Council, said the building’s stairwells lack cameras and that residents have found human feces, vomit, urine and drug paraphernalia in them.

Both women also raised concerns about the building’s elevators. Crestview spans across nine floors, but only one of its two elevators has been working since February, Parker said. The smaller elevator cannot fit a gurney, she said, raising concerns about how paramedics would move a resident during a medical emergency.

“We just feel like we’re at the end of our rope there,” Parker said. “We don’t know what else to do, or who to go to.”

Spotlight Delaware visited Crestview and observed one of the building’s two elevators out of service. No security personnel were stationed at the front desk, and some of the stairwells lacked cameras and had visible stains. No drug paraphernalia was visible during the visit.  

A list was also posted on the building’s wall, naming more than 100 people banned from the property. Jordan and Parker told Spotlight some of those individuals have been found sleeping in the stairwells and maintenance closet and cooking in the kitchen of a common area.

WPD officials said officers work with Wilmington Housing Authority leadership and security to address illegal activity at its properties. WHA also previously hired police officers to patrol its complexes, though the department said the last such assignment was May 26.

“Our officers will continue to work with WHA leadership and security in reference to any illegal activity, and members of our Community Engagement Unit will continue to visit the properties to interact with residents and address concerns,” David Karas, a WPD spokesperson, said in a statement.

In an interview with Spotlight Delaware, WHA’s Executive Director Ray Fitzgerald said his organization does not have a record of the majority of the complaints residents expressed. 

If residents do not submit formal work orders — a necessary part of the system for maintenance to happen — and instead tell maintenance or management about issues in passing, the issues will likely go unresolved, he said.

“They just have these meetings where it’s pitting us, the management, against residents who have been made aware of the process and they have chosen not to take advantage of it, but they want to complain about stuff not getting done,” he said.

Fitzgerald also asserted that Congo has never reached out to him regarding any resident complaints.

He shared with Spotlight an email he sent to council after the Sept. 2 meeting, responding to the grievances raised by residents. 

He noted that he meets with residents twice a year at each high-rise. The next set of meetings will be scheduled for next month, and council is welcome to attend, Fitzgerald said. 

He also noted that in Park View and Crestview’s most recent HUD inspections, the buildings scored highly. 

In response to the complaints made during the meeting, Department of Licenses and Inspection Commissioner Gabriel Pabon said that he was “extremely embarrassed” of the stories being shared, emphasizing that residents should reach out directly to his office or call 311 if they have issues with the building. 

Klinger noted that any building with 6 or more units requires inspection every five years; however, routine inspections had not been done in decades prior to Mayor Carney taking office. His administration initiated a high-rise inspection program in February as a result to ensure apartment conditions are consistently reviewed, she said. 

Compton Towers was fully inspected in June, Klinger noted. Windsor, Crestview, and Park View are scheduled for inspections throughout September and October. 

Voice your concerns
Wilmington Residents can voice concerns regarding their housing conditions through Wilmington 311 online, by calling 311, or by contacting the Department of Licenses and Inspections directly at (302) 576-3030.