"You make complaints, and all that kind of stuff, and nothing really got done," Kendra McCarter, who has lived at Villa Nueva Apartments on the northwest side for nearly eight years, said.
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Villa Nueva tops the list regarding the number of issues reported to the city of Houston's 311, with 65 cases reported in 2022.
"I just always wanted them to get it together," McCarter expressed.
The Sterlingshire Apartments on the northeast side had 54 issues reported to the city last year, followed by The Retreat on Rosslyn and Cabo San Lucas Apartments, both with 45, and 2111 Holly Hall on the south side with 41.
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Councilmember Letitia Plummer says it was during the COVID-19 outreach that she realized how many people were dealing with issues with where they live.
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"Neighbors would invite me in their homes, and I would see how they are living, and I remember telling my chief of staff, 'We've got to fix this,'" Plummer said.
Plummer said she is determined to make a change in this area. She says one current problem is there are not nearly enough inspectors.
"Currently, the city of Houston only has two health inspectors, and it's impossible to rotate 2,500 complexes with two inspectors," Plummer explained.
Last summer, a strike team was created to address some of our city's apartment issues.
"It only strikes and looks at the ones that have the most complaints, the ones that show up on your news station. It's not something we are doing proactively; it's more reactive," Plummer said.
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The current system is not perfect. She says more people reporting their issues with their apartment to 311 will help.
"If they are living in inhabitable conditions, they have to call 311. I know it's challenging sometimes, maybe a long wait time, but that is the only way that I am able to create the data that we need to support a strike team to come out," Plummer said.
We did reach out to the management companies of all five of these complexes. Only two of them got back to us. Excel Property Management owns both Villa Nueva and The Retreat at Rosslyn. The owner explains their business model is buying problem properties and trying to stabilize them. He says many of the issues have been fixed.
A representative for Sterlingshire Apartments responded, also saying the property is fully compliant with all HUD and city requirements and that any time anyone has brought a complaint to ownership, it has been resolved.
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