The neighbors of a 50-year-old woman who was found lifeless two-and-a-half years after her death want to sue the housing association for repeatedly ignoring all warning signs.
Dressed in blue pajamas and a white sweater, the skeleton of medical secretary Sheila Seleoane, 58, was found in her flat in February 2022, the BBC reported on Monday.
Maggots falling from the ceiling, a foul smell coming from the apartment, a flooded mailbox: the neighbors had nevertheless sounded the alarm several times with their housing association, Peabody, since the death of the woman in August 2019.
But the organization “does not seem to have seen, listened […] neighbours, or having joined the dots,” said an independent report commissioned by the latter, describing a bureaucratic culture that did “not put the customer at the heart of the actions.”
Because even though the woman always paid her rent on time, no one challenged or visited her accommodation when she stopped the payments.
Worse still, without even speaking to him, the company allegedly applied for a government program on his behalf, so that credit would be sent to them each month. This program is normally used for tenants who are struggling to pay their bills, explained the English media.
Nor would the company have disputed the fact that she would not have answered his door for the annual check-up of his gas electricity system, preferring instead to send him a letter and then cut off his gas supply.
The company had several “missed opportunities” to find the woman’s body, the report continued.
The neighbors, who are struggling to recover from the horror, have for their part started legal proceedings with lawyers, in order to obtain damages, they told the BBC.