Montgomery announces lawsuits against apartment owners after tenants share horror stories
Mahkaha and Andy Nguyen said they tried to help their neighbor at Brentwood Estates when her apartment flooded. They said they then talked to the leasing office.
“They just brushed us off," Mahkaha Nguyen said.
The couple said they also sought help when they discovered mold in their unit, and it began making them sick. They said the property manager did not take any action.
So they, along with other tenants, began talking to city councilors and other officials about the many issues at the complex. That is why the Nguyens think the company evicted them.
They said the administrators claimed Mahkaha's sister did not pay months of rent before they moved into her unit. The couple claims that is simply untrue.
City, state officials announce action
Brentwood is owned by EEG Management, which owns also owns Woodley Terrace and Woodley Oaks in Montgomery. On Thursday, City Councilor Oronde Mitchell announced to more than 50 residents that the city will be filing three civil suits against those three complexes.
Attorney Sayge Grubbs also promised to represent tenants, allowing them to band together in their own suit. He said he has tackled and won three similar cases against disreputable landlords. “I personally thought that this wasn’t happening anymore because of the noise from these three cases," Grubbs said.
State Rep. Anthony Daniels, the Democratic minority leader in the Alabama House of Representatives, pledged to file legislation protecting tenants as early as next week. “We’re not going to stand for it," Daniels said.
Daniels called on the residents to protest at the Capitol, speak to legislators and hold the landlords accountable.
“And so today it’s going to end," Daniels said of what he called inhumane conditions at the apartments.
Mitchell organized the meeting at City of Refuge Church, just down the street from Brentwood. It was too late for the Nguyens, who moved out on New Year's Eve, but other tenants hoped it could be a different story for them.
Cameisha Whetstone, a mother of two evicted after she spoke with the Montgomery Advertiser last month, decided to move her children, who are ages 2 and 4, elsewhere. “I just wanted to of course be out of there," Whetstone said.
Whetstone said she still plans to take part in the community activism and work to make the apartments a safer place.
More: Previous Coverage Mother of two shows conditions at Montgomery apartment, has lease terminated the next day
Alex Gladden is the Montgomery Advertiser's public safety reporter. She can be reached at agladden@gannett.com or on Twitter @gladlyalex.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: City, state officials promise to tackle tenant rights issues
