A tenant at Millennium, an off-campus apartment complex, reported a significant cockroach infestation inside electrical outlets that has caused electrical outages and fire risks.
According to Alex Minnick, an OU student and tenant at Millennium, the insects are nesting within the electrical wiring. Minnick said Backwoods Pest Service, an Oklahoma City-based pest control service, failed to perform treatments on the infestation.
“Despite posting notices, no treatments or inspections have been conducted in my apartment, and yet records falsely indicate completed services,” Minnick wrote in a final notice email to Millennium management on April 22.
Minnick wrote in the email that Millennium performs regular, unexplained fire alarm tests, with one instance resulting in the dispatch of emergency fire personnel. Minnick also wrote that management has provided misleading or incomplete information about these occurrences.
Minnick also said that Millennium maintenance provided false documentation that his request for service had been filled.
“I received an automated survey falsely stating my maintenance request was resolved, despite zero action or follow-up from management after explicit assurances that the issue was escalated,” Minnick wrote in the email.
Amanda Tanner — an area manager at Cardinal Group Management, which manages Millennium — wrote in an email to OU Daily that Millennium residents’ maintenance requests are electronically tracked in the apartment's systems.
“We want to clarify that all maintenance requests submitted by residents are electronically tracked in our system and are not marked as completed until the work has been performed by our maintenance team,” Tanner wrote. “Any claims suggesting otherwise are inaccurate.”
Minnick wrote that Millennium is chronically understaffed and residents face frequent elevator malfunctions, Wi-Fi outages and promises for additional furniture and a mailbox key upon move-in that are never fulfilled.
According to Minnick’s email to management, he said that multiple tenants have reported unresolved issues including leaks, pests, electrical hazards and neglected maintenance requests.
In his email, Minnick demanded $10,000 for direct losses, emotional distress, inconvenience and exposure to hazardous living conditions. Minnick also requested an inspection and remediation by certified electricians and pest control experts within seven days of the email being sent and written assurances of no retaliation against him or other tenants for raising concerns.
Tanner wrote that once the issue was brought to management's attention, it was addressed by coordinating a full treatment through Millennium’s pest control vendor and scheduled follow-up visits.
“Our team met with the resident, explained the treatment process, and emphasized the importance of allowing time for the professional application to take effect,” Tanner wrote. “We have continued to offer additional treatments; however, the resident has not granted full access to the unit, including the bedroom, which limits our ability to fully address the issue.”
OU Daily reached out to Minnick for further comments on his report but didn’t receive a response by the time of this article’s publication.
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure, Ismael Lele and Ana Barboza. Andrew Paredes and Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
