DALLAS — In November, Keeli Martin was excited to call the Meadows at Ferguson home.
“I loved my apartment,” said Keeli Martin, an East Dallas resident.
She loved her home until she couldn’t anymore.
“I’ve had about three or four floodings of my one apartment,” said Martin.
She shared video of a bathroom wall that fell, a leaking roof and flooding.
Her apartment had holes in the walls which brought the worst of it all.
“I’m looking like, ‘What the hell is that?’ It was a possum,” said Martin.
She said a possum fell through a hole in her ceiling.
“I just had so much stuff going on in my apartment,” said Martin.
She moved in with her mother who also lives at the Meadows at Ferguson. Martin is not alone in her concerns.
When storms destroyed buildings in May, WFAA spoke with residents protesting living conditions. The City of Dallas filed a petition in July for city and fire code violations.
“We have to try and juggle a fine line there to make sure that we keep a property livable,” said Tie Lasater, KeyCity Capital CEO.
KeyCity Capital is the company that owns the property. Lasater said when they took over two years ago, there were restrictions on how much capital they can pour into it and problems that already existed.
“Our focus at KeyCity is providing affordable housing,” said Lasater. “I lose money every month on that property until we can get to a point where we can start making renovations and start leasing up the property.”
Storm damage and a fire led to one building being torn down over the summer. The City of Dallas said they’ve given KeyCity 90 days to remove the debris, but it has not been moved yet.
“We've had to hire an inspector to come in and see that building should not have been torn down,” said Lasater. “The city came in and tore that building down that night and didn't even let anybody know. On top of that, they didn't clear the area.”
Lasater also responded to the holes that residents said they have in their apartments.
“It's not allowing increased cold air to get in or increased hot air to get in and air conditioning to get out,” said Lasater. “Yes, it’s ugly. It’s not appealing, but it’s not impacting the usability or the efficiency of the apartment itself.”
Both Lasater and residents said there are issues with crime.
“I would like to see a quicker response from police, who are there to protect and serve,” said Lasater.
He told WFAA it's difficult to keep staff and employees because of the nearby criminal activity.
The city said it’s attorney’s office is planning to address these issues along with the high crime volume at a temporary injunction hearing in October.
While KeyCity continues to ask tenants to be patient, tenants are asking for immediate help.
“What are you going do? When are you going do it? Give us a timeline. Give us some hope that it can happen,” said Martin.