Mold plaguing residents north Houston apartments; HUD to investigate management
Updated at 05:27 PM today
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- People living at a north Houston apartment complex say they're living in terrible conditions, and they can't get any help to get things fixed. They're facing mold as well as holes in the walls, and the complex is HUD housing.
With it being a HUD property, the government puts a significant amount of money into this place. But it is privately owned, and residents say the owners aren't maintaining it. After our calls, HUD is opening an investigation.
On-site management at Garden City Apartments on West Montgomery declined to talk to us.
"I've been complaining about it for a whole month, month and a half," resident Teliscia Davis said.
Davis and some of her neighbors say they are living with health and safety concerns -- mold on their floors, walls and ceilings. They believe leaky pipes are the source of the mold.
"They told me they were going to come out and pick the pads up that are under the carpet, but they never came and pulled them up," Davis said.
We got a copy of a letter to all residents. In it, the vice president of the management company writes, "nasty carpet will not be replaced, so don't ask."
"They never change the moldy sheetrock; they never change the carpet or the tile that gets wet, and we just suffer, resident Constance Anderson said.
I walked through several apartments and saw a host of problems that residents say haven't been addressed. Holes in walls, appliances on their last hinge; some apartments do have paint over them and, in some cases, water has been turned off to replace pipes. Still, others say they've seen no action.
"Just because we're in a low-income apartment, they can't treat us like we don't have anything," Davis said. "We're human beings. We need somewhere to stay, and they need to protect where we stay."
When we tried to talk to management a second time, they closed the blinds and locked the doors. We did track down a maintenance worker...
"I have no comment, OK?" the maintenance worker said.
"Ma'am, I'm not asking you for a comment," we replied. "I want you to help me get the manager. These people have a lot of problems with their apartments. I'm trying to help them."
A representative from the Department of Housing and Urban Development told me they have no record of these specific complaints but will now open an investigation.
We received an email from the management company Tuesday afternoon. A spokesperson said they take all resident concerns very seriously and will address these concerns appropriately.
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