Roaches, Poor AC, and Broken Appliances Have These Texas Tenants Wanting to Move
Months of reported maintenance problems have left residents of one Dallas, Texas apartment complex looking for a way out of their leases—and a recent wave of vehicle tows only added to the frustration.
The resident described the problems in a Sept. 13 Reddit post to the r/LandlordLove subreddit, about Eastgrove Apartments on Ferguson Road. He wrote that his apartment had “roaches in the walls, ac not working properly all summer, gaps in windows that leak air and broken washing machine unfixed for 10 months.”
If that didn’t seem like enough, then came the towing. The renter claimed the online parking permits used by residents disappeared from H4 Towing’s system before over 20 vehicles were towed overnight, with the added caveat that it was “probably more because I have only talked to my nearby neighbors.” Those numbers come from the original poster, u/HazzyXYZ.
“My neighbors and I all want to leave,” he wrote. “How can we quickly get out of the lease?”
How Quickly Indeed?
Eastgrove apartments on 11611 Ferguson is neglecting maintenance and terrorizing us, how can we take action and get out of our lease and serve them justice?
by
u/HazzyXYZ in
LandlordLove
Texas tenants have legal protections when serious repairs aren’t being made, although getting out of a lease isn’t necessarily as simple as packing up and leaving.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office says, in general, landlords have a duty to repair conditions that materially affect a tenant’s physical health or safety. Tenants, in turn, must notify their landlord and give them a reasonable opportunity to address the problem. State law generally presumes seven days is reasonable, although various circumstances can change that timeframe.
If the required steps are followed and a landlord still does not make a diligent effort to fix a qualifying problem, a tenant may then be entitled to terminate the lease; they may also be entitled to pursue certain repair remedies or ask a court to order repairs.
What About Those Towed Cars?
The towing dispute presents a separate issue. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation says drivers whose vehicles are removed in a private-property tow have the right to request a court hearing to determine whether probable cause existed for the tow.
Additionally, the request generally must be made within 14 days, excluding weekends and national holidays.
The agency also has specific requirements for towing signs at private parking facilities, including information about who is permitted to park and when towing is enforced.
Hopefully these tenants are able to find more stable housing or get their landlord to fix the issues asap. What would you do in this situation?
