MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County Environmental Court Judge Patrick Dandridge has declared Serenity Towers a chronic nuisance during a Tuesday hearing.
City of Memphis officials filed a petition to declare the apartment complex a chronic nuisance earlier this year.
"Serenity Towers is the site of numerous health and safety concerns," the filing read. "The various Memphis Fire Department and Code Enforcement citations, as well as calls to the Memphis Police Department give evidence to those concerns."
The petition lists that numerous complaints from citizens and residents regarding the conditions in the building.
"This petition is filed to alleviate years of on-going, long-term, and worsening problems occurring at Serenity Towers," the petition reads. "Serenity Towers is a chronic nuisance that adversely affects the health and safety of those living there and the community as a whole evidenced by repeated patterns of ordinance violations and criminal activity."
The city's filing asks for the court to declare the building is a chronic nuisance and order any and all remedies to abate the conditions.
After initially saying the hearing would be the first of three, Dandridge said he would rule Tuesday.
"There's no way around the fact that this is clearly a chronic nuisance, there's no way around it," Judge Dandridge said.
ABC24 has reported the troubles Serenity Towers Apartments has faced for years, ranging from pest infestations and no A/C during the hot summer months in Memphis to no hot water.
Multiple tenants Serenity Tower tenants testified in a court of law what they’ve been dealing with since living at the apartment complex.
Raymond Rogers was one of the residents who testified. He said he's lived in Serenity Towers for four years.
Rogers claims he has to use a towel brush to drain his ceiling three times a day. He also said if he doesn't drain his ceiling, that water will fall on the top of his head.
"I've reported it to the office, they come up, they vacuum it out, they'll drop a tablet or something in there. Two days later, it's right back," Rogers said.
In June, Serenity Towers was taken over by Kelly Childress, the new property manager. During her testimony, Childress said she's made significant changes in the last three months.
However, according to City of Memphis Code Enforcement the owners have continued to not provide enough resources to turn the apartment complex around.
"The wiring is old that's just something that has got to be addressed, their old stoves, the wiring is old, those are the original stoves that was in the building when they were build," Childress said.
Attorney Carlissa Shaw is retained by the City of Memphis. She said there will be another hearing to discuss a special inspection by a site safety specialist on Oct. 29.
Shaw said Tuesday's ruling should serve as a warning to other Memphis property owners.
"We are excited that Millenia is put on notice that not in our town, not in our city, we will not let property owners mistreat or subpar provide services to our community members," Shaw said.
Judge Dandridge said Serenity Towers will pay for the upcoming inspection.
The judge set a hearing for two weeks from Oct. 15, 2024, for attorneys to return.
Attorney for Millenia had no comment on the issue when asked by ABC24.
The city accused the building's management as failing to maintain pest control treatment, including for bed bugs, and lists past citations from the city.
"These are no longer active cases but show a pattern of repeated ordinance violations occurring at Serenity Towers that has persisted for years," the filing reads.
There were 2,079 calls for service to the Memphis Police Department between Jan. 1, 2022 to Feb. 9, 2024, according to the filing, and of that period there have been: 8 aggravated assaults; 4 arsons; 9 burglaries; 5 dead on arrivals of natural causes; 10 dead on arrivals for unknown causes; 2 narcotics violations; 17 emergency commitments; 12 instances of intimidation; 18 simple assaults; 9 trespassing instances; 21 calls have occurred in individuals being taken into custody.