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Paul Rodriguez and dozens of his neighbors gathered outside the Rosemont front office in Oak Valley Apartments, southeast Austin, Tuesday morning after 85 families were notified on Friday that they were being evicted and had to move out by July 31.
In a letter to residents, the complex informed residents that their leases were terminated because of a natural disaster and a disaster caused by the February frost that resulted in widespread power and water outages and burst pipes.
“Although Rosemont in Oak Valley has taken steps to mitigate the effects of damage, we have found that unfortunately the extent of damage that has occurred to your unit requires us to terminate your lease and you evacuate the unit in order to do so we can do the necessary repairs, “states the letter.
More:The evictions of Round Rock townhouses continue as lawyers plan to fight for tenants
The complex, managed by Austin-based Capstone Real Estate Services, is an affordable residential community of approximately 280 units. Capstone took over the complex in March 2021, according to its website.
Because the property was partially funded through the Low Income Residential Tax Credit Program, a certain number of units will be reserved for lower income households.
However, many local residents said that all damage from the winter frost has now been repaired, but they were still being told to leave the house.
Several other residents said all of the damage and problems they face now, including moldy walls and carpets; broken kitchen appliances and air conditioners; and multiple leaks – have been a problem for years and they believe the complex is using the winter frost as an excuse.
Maria Lopez, who has lived at the facility with her two children for more than eight years, said her apartment had a leak in the bathroom and closet. She said mold and mildew also started to grow in the shower, which she was asked to clean with bleach.
Lopez said maintenance workers came in to remove the carpet and wallcovering in the hallway but did nothing to fix the leaks, and this happened long before the storm. She and her two children are now forced to find a new place to stay.
Many other residents, many of whom said they were on the Affordable Housing Program, have reported similar conditions and incidents and fear that they will not have enough time to find new homes before they are evicted.
More:Tenants in northeast Austin describe uninhabitable conditions two months after the Texas freeze
“It’s indecent for anyone,” said Mary Brooks, who has lived in the complex for 11 years and is forced to leave. “People have nowhere to go.”
Housing advocate Solveij Rosa, who works at Austin Tenants’ Council, a nonprofit that helps residents with housing rights issues, said residents contacted them after the winter frost caused flooding and water damage from broken water pipes.
But those repairs have been made by the complex since then and many of them are still being told to leave the building even if they don’t have any problems or mold in their unit, Rosa said.
Neighbors who have not formed a formal tenants council work together as neighbors in Rosemont for answers. Kecia Prince, who supports the effort, said residents only wanted fair and reasonable options.
She said many families have low or steady incomes, have young children or elderly family members, some of whom are disabled or sick, and work hard to make ends meet. But without enough time, families could end up homeless or in shelters.
In the management’s letter, some resources were made available to residents to seek help, including a list of local affordable housing communities, rental support nonprofits, and contact information for Rainbow Housing Assistance Corp., a nonprofit that offers housing programs for renters .
But Prince said that wasn’t good enough. They requested that management offer them special relocation services, move residents to hotels, or move families to vacant and habitable units within the complex, but those demands went unanswered.
Rodriguez, who lives in a four-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with his wife and three children, said they had been looking for a new apartment since Friday, but most of the rental apartments were full. Some apartment applications can take more than a week to process, and application fees can be expensive.
Related:Residents of SE Austin at Tempo on Riverside are being relocated after a damaged frost in February
Rodriguez said his apartment does not currently have any uninhabitable conditions. The air conditioning is not working properly, but it is working.
“They’re driving us away for no reason,” said Rodriguez. “This is where we live. My children go to school here. Now we have to pack, look for a new apartment and then move in less.” than 30 days. I do not know what to do. I’m here because we want answers. ”
Residents across Austin have reported similar responses from landlords, according to Shoshana Krieger, a project leader at Building and Strengthening Tenant Action (BASTA), a nonprofit that addresses tenant problems in Austin by empowering residents to stand up for their tenant rights to use.
The nonprofit has helped several tenants across Austin who have faced lease termination and uninhabitable conditions since the onset of winter.
• In March, residents of the Mount Carmel Village apartments were told they would all be temporarily relocated after Austin’s Code Department declared the property was uninhabitable because it had no water above 110 degrees and no heating (which was room temperature colder than 68 degrees). both were caused by the lack of natural gas.
• In Mueller Flats there were several residents who received notice of termination five months after the storm on the grounds that they were not habitable. And while Krieger said that some residents are still living in appalling conditions, many others are not, but they are still being displaced. A court case for eviction began last week.
• Residents of the 9500 Apartments complex reported similar experiences.
More:Austin renters have to move, others describe uninhabitable conditions after the Texas freeze
On Tuesday, just days after Rosemont residents were notified of the evictions, the complex’s main office closed but phone calls were received. Rosemont residents are encouraged to attend a community meeting with the administration at 1pm on Thursday.
Capstone, which is not a Better Business Bureau accredited company, has received 32 complaints from residents in the past three years, according to the Better Business Bureau website. Two property violations complaints appear on the Austin Code Department website.
Interview requests from the management remained unanswered.
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