Leaky walls, garbage heap driving complaints at Leesburg apartment complex
In any other apartment complex, Sherry Nevins would proudly show off her well-decorated apartment, filled with beach-themed décor and furniture, Christian symbols and calming scents.
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However, Nevins is embarrassed. Her unit in the Cypress Oaks community in Leesburg isn’t fully functional. Visible patches dot the walls and ceiling. Many of her cabinets are broken. The bathtub hasn’t stopped running since she moved in and is now stained.
“You cannot get anything fixed,” Nevins said. “The only way we can get anything fixed is by a threat or calling code enforcement.”
Nevins is far from the only tenant with problems. None of the close to two dozen tenants WFTV spoke to by email, text, phone or in-person had positive things to say about their property managers. Most said their apartments had significant issues, such as leaks in their walls or ceilings or broken appliances. One woman showed off mold coming from the vents into her living room.
Outside of their units, the health department has shut down the complex’s pool. Until Monday afternoon, a heap of trash was piled outside the dumpster, which took a city truck that showed up hours to remove.
Cypress Oaks residents said they’re frustrated that most of the time, the property managers aren’t anywhere to be seen. The office was staffed on Monday because it was rent payment day, they claimed. The week before, the lights were off.
“I just want my things fixed,” Nevins said.
The complex is owned by TPI Housing & Property Management, a nonprofit that specializes in affordable housing. Their website proudly proclaims they “provide decent, safe and sanitary affordable housing.”
However, the complex has several open code violations that haven’t been addressed, city workers said.
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The woman manning the office at Cypress Oaks refused to speak to WFTV on Monday. A woman who called from the organization’s corporate office sounded surprised so many residents contacted the newsroom, appeared to jot down notes about the issues at the complex, and said she would call back.
TPI’s parent organization generated a $26.6 million profit in 2021, its IRS filing showed, including more than $12 million from its apartment complexes, 14 of which are currently in Central Florida.
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