Veterans living with bed bugs in building not zoned for residential use

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POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -

Bed bugs, broken doors, and a moldy bathroom describes the condition that Local 10 News found some South Florida veterans living in a Pompano Beach building zoned for "heavy business" use and recently cited for renting a unit which the violation read is an improper use.

Several were stacked in a room; another veteran was sleeping in a closet.

The veterans who spoke with Local 10 said they were placed there by the Veterans In Need Foundation, which is located on the first floor of 1350 S. Dixie Highway.

Michael Janet, a Navy combat veteran in Vietnam, told Local 10 the organization is not delivering the services it promises when it solicits money from people at rest stops all across South Florida.

"These are veterans who have served with dignity and honor and deserve better treatment," Janet said. "They deserve a clean place to sleep (and) a clean mattress to sleep. Take some of that money that is given to you and give it to the veterans, provide better living conditions, doing things that you say in this brochure."

On a Veterans In Need Foundation solicitation card obtained by Local 10, the organization writes that donations collected will provide "free temporary housing assistance for homeless veterans." Janet said he was asked by the organization's leader, Joseph Haddy, to pay more than $500 in rent from his Veteran Affairs-issued benefits check.

When Haddy "found out how much I get from my veteran's check, then I was told I need to pay $535 a month to live there," Janet said. "I asked the other veterans who received veteran's checks. Some of those guys would pay $400. He charged you what he wanted to. It wasn't no set price. I thought that was unfair. I had to move out. The bed bug infestation was so bad. It was so bad I just had to move out. I would rather sleep out under the stars out on the streets than have to sleep in a place like that."

Vietnam veteran Roger Jones told Local 10 News consumer advocate Christina Vazquez that he was currently paying $400 in rent from his $1,000 a month VA check to live in his upstairs unit. He said the four other men sharing two small bedrooms covered their rent from donations they collected from the public.

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Veterans living with bed bugs in building not zoned for residential use

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