MEMPHIS, Tenn. — For close to three months, a family living in an Orange Mound apartment complex says they have watched their leaking roof go from bad to worse.
On December 9, part of their ceiling collapsed.
“You could just see the water just coming down,” said resident Darmetris Isom-Anderson.
The family says that workers finally arrived Thursday to repair the damage, but they are still left wondering why their requests for help went unanswered, telling ABC24 they submitted work orders about once a month since August.
“This is the living room, that caved in right there,” said Isom-Anderson as she gave a tour of the damaged residence.
Covered in debris, with pieces of drywall and insolation hanging from the ceiling in addition to the ongoing water damage, the mother of five described it as “unlivable.”
Isom-Anderson says everything looked fine when her family moved in to El Dorado Apartments in July. But just days later, while it was raining, she notice water dripping down from the ceiling.
“When it started to rain, it would trickle a little bit, come down,” she said.
Isom-Anderson says they submitted that first work order in August when the damage was even more noticeable. She says they were later told a contractor had fixed the roof.
But it only got worse, spreading to her and her and husband’s bedroom, down the hallway and into the bathroom. The first collapse was in their bedroom, which was empty at the time.
“If the kids were in there, it definitely probably would’ve hit (someone),” Isom-Anderson said. “The baby lays on the bed all the time.”
With clean up and repair efforts underway, the family of seven is forced to share the one remaining bedroom.
Husband Randy Anderson says the water damage also revealed what appears to be mold in the walls and calls it “inhumane” that they haven’t been given somewhere else to live.
“The black mold is very unsafe for people to breathe in,” he said. “I have a newborn child that shouldn't even be in this type of environment. It is just not safe for us to be here at this moment.”
ABC24 called the El Dorado’s front office Thursday afternoon asking about the delay on fixing the roof. The person who answered said it was being fixed then hung up.
But, Isom-Anderson says someone at the front office told her mother there could be consequences to getting the press involved.
“My mom said (they told her) if we were to speak out or try and get the news involved, that’s grounds for eviction,” she said.
“They just don't care,” Anderson said, “They just don't care.”
The complex is owned by Odin Properties, which is based in Philadelphia, but owns at least five other Memphis apartment buildings.
ABC24 reached out to Odin for a statement on this issue but has not gotten a response at this time.