An East New York man says he would rather sleep on an air mattress outside than inside his apartment.

“There’s no place safe in my apartment. The ceiling could fall on me when I sleep," said Shrif Hall, an East New York resident.

Shrif Hall has lived inside his basement apartment on Montauk Avenue since April. He says from the very beginning there's been issues.

“There was water damage and I smelled mold, I had no objections I couldn’t go back to the homeless shelter, so I had to stay here.”

Hall has lived in and out of shelters for years prior to this apartment. His family says at first, they were relieved to hear he was placed in housing.

“He slept on trains, he slept outside, he did what he had to do to survive," said Aretha Covington, Shrif Hall's Aunt.

But that relief soon turned to horror when they saw the conditions of the place.

“I have no idea what to do. My landlord won’t take my calls," said Hall.

News 12 reached out to Y & C Verrazano LLC , the landlords on Hall's lease about these concerns. They said over the phone that these issues just began within the last two weeks, and that they would be fixed by the end of the week.

But despite these assurances, violations listed on the Housing Preservation and Development website show that complaints have been filed since July.