Residents of two entrances of Block 55 in Burgas's Izgrev district are preparing a joint lawsuit against the owner of an apartment in the building over a stench, flooding and cats, they said. The problems have gone on for years, and dozens of complaints to the police, Burgas council and animal protection bodies have brought no real result.
The neighbours say the woman keeps an unknown number of cats in her home and does not maintain even basic hygiene. The entrance smells strongly of cat faeces, and the stench rises through the floors. In the shared areas the plaster is falling off, and damp and constant leaks from the upper floors have eaten into the walls. On the apartment's balcony there are rags, dirty blankets and rubbish, which the neighbours say serve as a cat toilet and are left to "air".
The latest leak was on 27 September, almost two weeks ago. Water burst out of the apartment again, probably from the dirty sewer pipe, and flooded the homes below. The neighbours say the owner would not let anyone in to deal with the problem, so they called 112. Police officers who arrived could not get in either.
The neighbours say the man who lives with the woman reacted with hostility to their complaints, tried to hit them and threatened to beat them up.
One affected resident says the problem is not the animals but the total lack of hygiene. She says the smell is not the only issue: the drains keep clogging, and the leaks are ruining the walls on her floor and in the flats. She thinks repairs are pointless because everything gets wrecked again.
Another resident of the entrance said that in summer you cannot breathe, and in the toilet the smell makes your eyes water. The people in the apartment do not cooperate, do not open the door and for years have given only empty promises, he added. The neighbours say the situation is completely intolerable.
During a check at the scene, the neighbours said the woman had promised verbally to remove the animals and clean the apartment by the end of the month. They do not believe her, because they have heard such promises before.