SOUTH BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Albert Oatmeyer and his family have been without power for two weeks due to an issue with his home's electrical panel. He called 7 Problem Solvers, because he said it has taken his landlord two weeks to fix the issue. 7 Problem Solvers discovered that this issue was a long time coming.
Oatmeyer and his wife live on the first floor of a South Buffalo duplex. They have extension cords running through their home from their children's apartment, which is above theirs. Their children's apartment has power.
Oatmeyer said it started on July 20 when the power went out. National Grid came out that night to turn the electric off. An electrician explained to 7 Problem Solvers that a toilet leak led to corrosion in the home's electrical panel, which then caused the first floor's main breaker box to overheat. Some of the components inside that box melted.
7 Problem Solver Michael Schwartz looked through City of Buffalo records to find that the Oatmeyer's address has had 26 code violations in the last two years, and 22 of them remain active. The oldest active violation is for "corrosion on electrical panel" in 2021.
Schwartz was told that the power issue could've been avoided, yet alone fixed in less than two weeks.
"Landlord said it's not his problem, but he’ll get an electrician when he can," explained Oatmeyer. "Still 2 weeks later nothing is being done."
7 Problem Solver Michael Schwartz called the landlord, Mohammed Siddiqui, questioning why it's taking two weeks to restore power.
"What can you do?” questioned Siddiqui. He said he hired an electrician who was working at the home on August 2. However the couple said the first contractor sent to their home did not have a license.
Siddiqui told Schwartz that the Oatmeyers can "go to a shelter or something."
"I don’t think that’s right at all," said Oatmeyer. "He should’ve put us up someplace, or got us a generator."
When Schwartz spoke to Siddiqui in another phone call he then said the family owes more than $7,000 in rent in both the upper and lower part of the duplex.
In August 2022 attorney Richard Berger wrote a letter to the Oatmeyer's on behalf of Siqqidui. The letter states that the family only partially paid rent from June 2021 to August of 2022, and owes a balance of $7,693.92.
The Oatmeyers said they do not owe any money to Siddiqui, and that was handled by ERAP afterward.
According to a letter from the New York State Emergency Rental Assistance Program, the Oatmeyer's had ERAP assistance from September 2022 to June of 2023.
Siddiqui said he plans to evict the Oatmeyers, and that the owner, who is based in New York City, will then sell the building.
National Grid told Schwartz that once the electrician completes his work, he then has to request an inspection from the City of Buffalo. After that is when National Grid can restore power to the customer in a day or so.
If you have a consumer problem email Michael at 7ProblemSolvers@WKBW.com.
