Tenants and supporters were rallying outside of the Rochester city court calling for better living situations in their Thurston Road and Chili Avenue apartment buildings.
After the rally, the group then moved into court on Exchange Street for their case against Thurston Road Realty, owned by Peter Hungerford.
The City of Rochester filed a lawsuit against Hungerford after tenants spoke up about the condition of the buildings.
Tenants shared stories of their living situations; many talking about mice, rat and roach infestations, ceilings that leak or have caved in, corroded pipes and sewage issues.
Marianne Clao has lived at 447 Thurston Road for 21 years under Section 8 housing. She says she’s missing cabinets, her bath tub doesn’t work and she has no hot water pressure.
"Last week I had a Section 8 inspection and I failed for the third time because they found 4 more things that have to be done which haven’t been done yet.”
Gary Kirkmeyer is the Director of Buildings and Zoning with the City of Rochester and says there are significant violations at these properties.
"I think of the 41 that are outstanding at Thurston 20 are health and safety. And I think there's 20 at Chili as well that are health and safety related."
A judge ordered that the city would inspect the buildings in 10 days, with repairs to be made in 90 days.
Hungerford also has to come to all court dates from now on; he was not present at this one.
Mary Brown has lived at 447 Thurston Road for 7 years, and says even though she’s been dealing with bad water and sewage, she is optimistic.
"They really need to take their time and come in there and do it right. Not Band-Aid it. It don’t need to be Band-Aided, it need to be repaired."
Hungerford has not responded to our request for a comment.