MEMPHIS, Tenn. — People living at a Whitehaven apartment complex say many of their maintenance requests have gone unanswered, leading to water damage, leaky ceilings and other problems.
“There’s something wrong in here,” said one 64-year-old tenant. “There’s something wrong.”
A leaking roof, unreliable electricity and air conditioning that barely works are just some of the problems one Whitehaven woman says she’s been dealing with since moving into Garden View apartments in March.
“A lot of people are going through that same problem,” she said.
Wanting to stay anonymous out fear of retaliation, the woman says it was during the spring that she first noticed water dripping from her ceiling. The woman and her daughter say despite multiple calls to management, nothing was done.
“There were holes all around and I said, ‘Oh yeah, it’s fixing to drop,’” the woman told ABC24. “And it went on and dropped, sure did.”
The water ended up bursting through her ceiling, leaving an ugly mess. And she’s not the only tenant who says they’ve had trouble contacting the apartment manager.
“When I tried to call the landlord, she don’t answer her phone,” said another renter, who identified herself as just Lex. “And she always blocking people’s number.”
After the Garden View manager spoke briefly with ABC24 over the phone Thursday, she said she would answer questions through email. She has yet to respond.
Garden View has recently changed it’s policy, saying tenants must submit all maintenance requests as hand-written notes. ABC24’s anonymous tenant says she sent hers on Tuesday.
“I don’t think they’re going to do nothing though,” she said.
However, Memphis Code Enforcement told ABC24 they showed up Thursday to inspect the woman’s apartment. They found violations that included the ceiling leak, electrical outlets in her bedroom that did not work and a broken bathroom door. Failure to fix everything will lead to the property owner being cited to Shelby County Environmental Court on July 31st.
Code enforcement says they have a follow-up inspection scheduled for July 29th.
The woman’s daughter told ABC24 the apartment’s maintenance staff were already hard at work to make the changes Thursday evening.