MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With the temperatures continuing to rise, Antwan Williams has been forced to sit in his car to stay cool.
“If you look at the units, the units are old. This is 2017. They look like they came from 1970.”
This Eden at Watersedge Apartment resident said his unit hasn’t been working and he’s not the only one struggling in the heat.
WREG went out the apartments last week after a woman told us she’d been sitting in the heat for months.
While we were there, maintenance followed us and tried to force us to leave even though we were invited inside by the resident.
WREG learned the complex faced a judge twice in the last few weeks.
The complex had to answer for 76 code violations and all of them were supposed to be up to compliance by Wednesday.
They were not.
As of Wednesday, there were 30 units still unfixed, but the judge extended the deadline to Thursday at 5 p.m. or the apartment complex would be forced to pay a fine.
On Thursday, the buzz of working units could be heard throughout the complex, but Williams’ was not one of them.
“They came by last night and told me it wasn’t fixable and said they would be back today. I’ve been out here since last night and they haven’t been back.”
Thursday afternoon there was still no sign of the maintenance man, so Williams ended up accepting a portable unit from a couple who drove from Jackson, Tennessee to help his family out.
It was a gesture he couldn’t stop thanking them for since he feels two strangers compassion shined brighter than the people he pays his rent to each month.