HOUSTON – Not only do residents at the Trails of Ashford apartment complex on Brant Rock say they have major issues with the water and other utilities, but they also say the complex is overrun with possums and skunks that blanket the area with an unpleasant odor.
They say the response from management stinks, too.
“If it’s not the water, it’s something, always something,” said one resident.
Frustration, helplessness, and anger are just some of the tiring emotions that the residents say they’ve been experiencing for months, and in some cases, years.
“Bout 10 years, that’s how long I’ve been here, and since I’ve been here, we’ve had problems with the water. Not only with the water, but the lights as well. We have power outages,” another resident said.
People we spoke to say they want to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, but say out of all the issues, including mold and faulty appliances, the water problems are the most persistent.
“Some days we’ll be two days out of the water and when we do get water, there’s no hot water, and when we don’t have no hot water, we have brown water. This has been ongoing for 10 years,” said one resident.
In various buildings throughout the complex, people say at times they have to buy water and boil it just to carry out normal routines.
“It makes me mad because we work hard and then to come home and to find out all these things... they don’t care. They’re just here to collect your money,” the resident said.
Residents say the rent has even gone up recently, but little has changed to make conditions better.
“We have kids, and it’s not fair our kids have to take cold baths every day,” she said.
“I don’t know what the issue is with the water here but it’s an ongoing issue, a major issue here,” another resident said.
Before KPRC2 was kicked off the property, we spoke to a man who claimed to be part of a new management team that just took over operations two months ago and he assured us the problems are being fixed but couldn’t give a timeline of when. The residents say they’ll believe it when they see it.
In the meantime, the city is encouraging residents to report their concerns to the health department via 311 and keep a record of the calls.