Action 13: Woman says landlord ignores repair requests, leaving her to live with mold and mice

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The newsroom at ABC13 gets emails all of the time from renters who are having trouble with their apartment complexes or landlords.

Eyewitness News is digging into what rights renters have and how people can best get their concerns addressed.

Tyra Hill is one tenant who recently reached out, asking us for help with her apartment.

"I've got a 3-month-old. We've got mold in the restroom, where I bathe her," Hill explained.

Mold, mice, plumbing problems: that's the short list of what Hill, who lives at The Crosby at Westchase, said she's been dealing with for months now.

"That is not fixing it. It is just fixing the problem for a moment. You're not repairing anything," Hill said.

Despite submitting numerous maintenance requests, Hill says the complex patches things to make it look better, but her apartment is not getting fixed. When we contacted corporate multiple times, they did not respond.

Issues like these are what attorney Ernie Garcia deals with on a daily basis.

"I'd say if our phone rings 50 times, 40 of those calls are going to be landlord, tenant calls," Garcia said.

Garcia said the main problem between landlords and tenants has to do with unpaid rent. Once you don't pay, by law, the landlord doesn't have to fix anything.

"It's this thinking that is perhaps not intuitive that tenants believe, 'Well, if I withhold my rent, I have a legal right to do so because the landlord is currently in breach of their obligation to maintain the premises.' Unfortunately, the law in the state of Texas simply doesn't work that way and by withholding the rent, the tenant actually loses their leverage to demand a repair," Garcia explained.

So, what is the most effective way as a renter to get an apartment problem solved?

"My suggestion for tenants is, always, if your rent is due, submit your rent payment, and then submit a written request for your repair, and that tends to be the most effective way to get a repair completed," Garcia said.

A written request, rather than in-person only, is key, according to Garcia.

"So, what I tend to recommend is if you have a portal, if you have an email address, if you know the corporate address and you have walking access to the property manager's office, do all four of them. It doesn't hurt to over notify. It only ever hurts to under notify your landlord," Garcia said.

If you have a renter concern you would like Action 13 to look into, fill out ABC13's Renters' Rights form.

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