Uptown area tenants say apartment complex owners aren't helping anyone after water pipe burst damage
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- What looked like flooding from a hurricane was water gushing from a pipe that busted open inside the Gables Post Oak apartment complex early Friday morning.
"I'm ground zero. It was right outside my door, and when I first moved in, they were fixing that pipe," resident Julie Marin, who saw the disaster unfold up close, told Eyewitness News.
Another renter said both the first and second floors were damaged. A cell phone video captured water pouring from holes in the ceiling and into the hallway.
"I was yelling, 'Help!' Because when I looked out the peephole, there was just water coming out of the ceiling," Marin said.
Now, her unit has portions of the wall removed, damaged carpet, and multiple fans going on at once. She said she paid more than $1,000 to have her all her stuff moved.
Although she found a place to stay, she still waits for apartment management to help.
"They told us Saturday that they would have a report and answers to us by Monday. It's now Thursday. I still have not heard anything," she said. "They have not given us anything, like, 'Oh, we'll put you up in a hotel. We'll put you up in an AirBnB.' We're not getting any information from them."
Another renter told Eyewitness News that he's had to pay for a hotel.
"It's really clear that corporate doesn't want to be there, and even when you talk to them, they're really tone-deaf," resident Aaron Brown said.
He said he was denied a refund for November rent and is trying to get out of his lease.
"You read the lease agreement, and it's not very renter-friendly. Stuff in there that keeps us from filing class action (and) prevents us from taking action," Brown said.
ABC13 reached out to Gables for comment and has not received a response.
