When BreAnna Eshun and her husband moved into a rental house in Norwood this spring, she says they noticed hints things were amiss. Each room had air fresheners in multiple outlets. And there was a lingering odor — like animal waste — that wouldn’t go away.
Eshun says she began asking the company they rented from, Second Avenue, to address the odor via its online maintenance portal.
"It took months of maintenance requests to get the air vents cleaned," she says.
Eventually, contractors came to do the long-awaited vent cleaning. But they left quickly. Eshun says they told her there was asbestos that prevented them from cleaning the vents.
Meanwhile, the couple started feeling sick.
"I take medication for my allergies, but my husband doesn’t," she says. "When I noticed him really sneezing and coughing and blowing his nose to the point that there was blood, I realized something was off."
Another inspection found more problems, Eshun says — a serious mold issue in the basement. The odor, the asbestos, and the mold culminated in a situation in which the couple couldn’t use their HVAC system in the middle of the sweltering Greater Cincinnati summer.
"It was just making us worse, so we stopped using it in May," she says.
Eshun says Second Avenue didn’t take the issue seriously, and hasn’t credited the couples’ account for the months they’ve gone without HVAC. They’ve since begun putting their rent in escrow. And Eshun has joined a class action lawsuit against Second Avenue.
Multiple lawsuits
The large company that rents out single family homes throughout Hamilton County as well as at least 24 other major metropolitan areas across the country is facing a class action lawsuit from current and former tenants, as well as a public nuisance lawsuit from the city of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Board of Health.
Tenants say they have been forced to live with raw sewage in their homes, no heat during winter months, and no air conditioning during extreme heat. Two of the four tenants named in the class action suit say they are now experiencing homelessness as a result of Second Avenue’s negligence and improper eviction actions.
The class action lawsuit says Second Avenue imposes illegal conditions in their lease agreements, like stating maintenance issues and pest control are the tenant’s responsibility. Second Avenue also allegedly charges fines and fees that violate state law and Cincinnati municipal code.
In the city’s lawsuit, filed a few days after the class action suit, City Solicitor Emily Woerner says Second Avenue has used an intentional investment practice "of acquiring distressed properties and failing to maintain them or maximize their productive use."
The lawsuit says Second Avenue owes the city about $137,000 in past-due civil fines related to building and health code violations, plus about $2,200 to Greater Cincinnati Water Works for unpaid services.
Both lawsuits demand a jury trial and ask for financial damages. The city also is asking a judge to appoint a receiver — a third-party property manager to take over maintenance at Second Avenue homes.
What is Second Avenue?
Second Avenue is a national investment company that rents single-family homes in at least 24 cities across the country, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Indianapolis, and Louisville.
, Second Avenue manages about $2 billion in assets and offers “double-digit returns” with an investment model that “delivers maximum returns while eliminating burdens and risk.”
Potential renters are promised premium homes at affordable rates, “24/7 maintenance and support,” and “one app for every need” where tenants can pay rent, schedule repairs, and contact support.
Also named in the lawsuit is Lessen, LLC, a company based in Arizona that operates a property maintenance business. The complaint indicates Lessen is not part of Second Avenue’s “corporate family” but that it identifies itself as “Second Avenue Maintenance” to local tenants.
Second Avenue allegedly operates at least 16 corporate entities, all named as defendants in the lawsuit. Some of those entities do not appear to be properly registered with the Ohio Secretary of State.
The city's class action complaint says Second Avenue “intentionally and effectively” targets low- and middle-income tenants.
WVXU attempted to reach Second Avenue representatives to respond to questions about the allegations in the lawsuits. Second Avenue does not have attorney information for either lawsuit listed on the Clerk of Courts website. WVXU reached out to a media contact listed on the Second Avenue website, as well as a local attorney who represents Second Avenue in Hamilton County eviction cases; after a few days, neither had responded in time for publication.
Tenants allege misery and suffering
A WVXU reporter visited Second Avenue properties in Evanston, Avondale, College Hill, Spring Grove Village, North Fairmount, Price Hill, and other areas to talk to renters who are not involved in the class action suit.
Two of the roughly dozen residents WVXU talked to reported they’d had few problems. One said the company was hands-off and “left us alone.” Both had lived in their Second Avenue homes for roughly a year.
Others, however, had different stories. Many wanted to remain anonymous due to fear their landlord would seek reprisal. They complained of odd fees — things like $10 a month for air filters, fees for repeat maintenance visits, and more.
Many said Second Avenue told them they had rented their home "as is" and that they would be responsible for upkeep and repairs to the property they were renting. Tenants said when they did call Second Avenue for repair work, the company was very slow in responding, if it responded at all.
Read the full class action complaint below (article continues after):
What code compliance records show
Earl Hollis lives at a Second Avenue property in Price Hill. He showed a WVXU reporter around, pointing out places where ceilings weren’t put in and pipes were sagging out from floor joists. He said when he moved in in February, the house was infested with rats — a problem he said he had to take care of himself with traps and patches to holes in walls.
He also claimed renovations on the property weren’t finished, including electrical work. HVAC duct work was missing, and the first and second floors of the house were essentially unheated, Hollis says. There also were sizable holes in the floor in one bedroom.
“All the heat was down in the basement,” Hollis says. “First floor and second — no heat. We moved in in February when it was cold. We had to use space heaters."
Shortly after he moved in, Hollis said the property received a visit from a city inspector, who expressed surprise someone was living in the house.
Code compliance records from the city of Cincinnati dated June 26 show Second Avenue eventually did some, but not all, of the work the city required.
“Furnace/AC still not repaired,” the report notes. “Water heater repaired. Electrical panel repaired and inspected by IBI. Bathroom renovations had taken place and improper repairs were made under the tub. Floor joists had completely rotted thru and were sister to incorrectly sized boards. Garage ceiling cover is completely missing thus a fire hazard. No carbon monoxide detector present.”
Work orders on the building remain open, according to the city's online code compliance database.
"It’s about getting what I pay for," Hollis says. "I shouldn’t have to move in and get right to work."
Hollis also pointed out the roof of his neighbor’s house, which exhibited significant wear and what appeared to be a small hole near the gutter.
That house also is owned by Second Avenue. Its tenant told WVXU about similar problems other renters have faced — unusual fees, difficulty paying rent via the company’s app, leaks, and other maintenance issues, including a significant-sized hole in the floor in one room.
Hollis said he was mostly concerned about his young daughter, who lives in the house with him, and his neighbor’s three-year-old.
“It’s kids,” he says. “I can see if it was people by themselves, but we care.”
'They cut corners'
Alyssa McDonald lives at another Second Avenue house in Spring Grove Village. She says maintenance help has been almost nonexistent at the property. She says Second Avenue did send people to fix a leak in her bathroom, but she says the company went with the lowest bidder rather than several other contractors who said a major repair was needed.
“They cut corners, definitely, because they picked the cheapest route and it wasn’t even a solution,” she says. “The problem is still happening.”
McDonald says the wall around the leak was patched but continues to exhibit water damage due to leakage.
Otherwise, McDonald claims Second Avenue has told her she’s responsible for fixes.
“They’ve always said that all the repairs were my responsibility,” she said.
McDonald has had other problems. She was temporarily out of work earlier this spring. When she lost her job, she reached out to Second Avenue to let them know she was about $300 short on her $1,700 rent. The company told her it wouldn’t take a partial payment. Second Avenue eventually filed eviction proceedings against her.
In late May, McDonald paid the company and was able to secure rental assistance via Hamilton County’s eviction prevention program for the rest of the back rent.
She notified Second Avenue and sent a receipt from the county showing she’d been accepted into the program. The company didn’t cancel the order to lock her out of the property until June 9, three days before it was due to happen. She continues to live in the house and to pay rent to Second Avenue. But the eviction has stayed on her record anyway.
“Unfortunately, since the judgment was previously signed, the eviction does remain on your record,” an email chain from a company representative provided to WVXU reads. “Please let me know if you have any further questions or need clarification.”
That situation strikes McDonald as unfair.
“Now I’m stuck in this house, because now I have an eviction on my record, so where can I go?”
Other issues
Other tenants who didn’t want to be named reported severe problems.
One woman in a small two-bedroom house reported the basement overflowed with sewage soon after her family moved in, making it unusable for any purpose. The sewage problem on the property has been recurring, she says. City records show code inspectors documented sewage in the house.
In addition, the roof of the house needs major repairs, the renter said. She told WVXU the leaks got bad enough the bathroom ceiling caved in just before Christmas last year. Months later, it remains only partially fixed.
The renter also says there have been additional problems. Electrical issues left roughly half the house, including the kitchen, without power for an extended period, she says. Despite this, the renter says, Second Avenue has continued to increase the family’s rent.
Temporary restraining order
In the class action lawsuit, Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins decided Aug. 21 to grant a request for a temporary restraining order against Second Avenue, ordering them not to enforce the illegal lease terms against the four plaintiffs, or to threaten or collect illegal fees from those tenants.
“Absent such injunctive relief, Plaintiffs will continue to endure irreparable harm related to violations of the Ohio Landlord Tenant Act, uninhabitable living conditions, forced relocation, and/or homelessness,” Judge Jenkins wrote.
He said the tenants have “alleged and documented their experiences of actual and threatened unlawful displacement from their homes” and “have demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits.”
A preliminary injunction hearing for the class-action suit is scheduled for Sept. 4.
Nothing is scheduled for the city lawsuit as of Aug. 26, when it was filed.
Read the city lawsuit
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