People will believe a bullshit rumour easily if it conforms to one of their preexisting biases.
Anyone who believes that Haitian immigrants are eating the neighbourhood cats is 90% likely to be straight up racist even if they don’t think they are, or 10% likely that they are just dumb as bricks with no critical thought capabilities.
If you buy into a poorly managed building though you are screwed. Many buildings don’t keep enough cash on hand for unexpected bills because they want to keep the fees low for residents. Then an elevator breaks, sewage backs up, someone floods their apartment, and all of a sudden there’s a $20,000 bill that everyone has to pony up money for.