'I Personally Think He Shouldn't Have Any Rental Properties': Renter, Former Employee Speak Out Against Twin Cities Landlord

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A WCCO Investigation uncovered more complaints lodged against a Twin Cities landlord.

For two years, WCCO has heard from renters with their concerns about Terry Persaud's properties, including drug items littering hallways, strangers sleeping on stairs, and squirrels living in apartment walls.

A new tenant says his safety issues went ignored until he took his landlord to court.

"As any other tenant, we deserve to live in peace and security," Abu Siddiqui told WCCO.

But Siddiqui says since moving his family into the Bramantes Apartments in New Brighton in August that hasn't happened.

"Since we moved in, the closet doors were hanging, they were not on the tracks," he said.

That led to a close-call in their 2-year-old's room when one of the doors came crashing down.

"Luckily, my wife was there to protect him and push the door away," Siddiqui said.

There was also a broken patio door on their ground level apartment that no longer locked, and that led to Siddiqui sleeping on the floor.

"I lived in fear, to be honest," he said.

His complaints, he says, were reported to Terry Persaud Properties for months.

Meanwhile, records show he paid his $1,295 rent on time.

Shannon Larson worked as a resident property manager for Persaud for just a few months, watching what she calls a number of issues pile up.

"When I first started there were 50 maintenance requests that were sitting in the computer system that dated back to even two years ago," Larson said.

She says she was let go last month when her boss found out she was looking for a new job.

"I personally think he shouldn't have any rental properties," she said.

As for Siddiqui, he filed what's known as a Rent Escrow Action in court. It's a legal proceeding seeking a reduction in rent until all repairs are made.

"I was going by what I was reading on Google with my limited resources," he said.

Two days before his hearing this week, maintenance paid a visit to make some of the repairs he'd asked for since summer.

"Once my lease ends, I'm not going to stay here," Siddiqui said.

Siddiqui's case was continued until next week.

Terry Persaud declined to be interviewed for this story. He said he couldn't comment on an ongoing court case.

To see our past reports, including what rights a renter in Minnesota has, click here.