Home is supposed to be a place of comfort and safety, but tenants at the Hanover Square apartment complex in South Baltimore say their building has become anything but.

More than a dozen residents are suing their landlord, asking a court to allow them to place rent into escrow until the problems are fixed.

Rent escrow is a legal process that lets tenants pay rent into a court-controlled account while a judge determines whether a landlord has made required repairs. They are suing under the Tenant Safety Act, passed in 2024, seeking building-wide fixes rather than temporary repairs.”

Residents say the issues include ongoing rodent and roach infestations, broken elevators, and unsafe living conditions. The lawsuit alleges elevators in the building repeatedly break down, leaving wheelchair-bound tenants stranded until firefighters helped them reach their apartments.

Rural Hicks-Bey, 75, a longtime resident, said repeated bedbug infestations have made conditions unbearable.

“I can’t sleep. I woke up a couple days ago, and I seen blood on the bed where one of them done bit me and I ain’t never had to live like this.”

He and other tenants have begun withholding rent in hopes a judge will order repairs to make the units habitable.

Most residents receive subsidized housing assistance. Zafar Shah, an attorney with Maryland Legal Aid, says that means public dollars are paying for what he calls substandard conditions.

“And that person picking up the tab is the taxpayer. Our tax money is not being spent wisely.”

Shah, who is representing tenants in the case, said the lawsuit is unlikely to be resolved quickly. He also argued the case could have implications beyond subsidized housing.

“The companies that profit by providing substandard housing for subsidized tenants will very likely use the same business practices to harm and to profit off of residents who live in the market rate rental market.”

The lawsuit also claims the building operated for seven months without a required rental license.

The landlord has not yet responded to requests for comment.