MEMPHIS, Tenn. — “Shocking to the conscience.”
That is how Judge Larry Potter described the conditions he saw inside the Shelby Pines Apartments in Whitehaven.
Residents were in the courtroom Thursday. They said they are glad they finally feel like they were being heard but are afraid of what could happen next.
“I will be a target,” Ashley Jeffries explained. “But I will still stand here until this is all the way over.”
Jeffries is waiting for her next eviction notice.
She has had issues with her landlord in the past, and she knows coming to court won’t help, but she wants answers.
Roof leaks, black mold, crumbling walls, ceilings — these tenants have seen it all.
The apartment manager insisted Thursday they are making progress.
When WREG confronted her about this, she ran away from our cameras.
Judge Potter was less than impressed with the images he saw.
“Some of the work appears to be in a non-workmanship fashion,” Potter added.
The lawyer representing Shelby Pines even admitted he has not seen the conditions for himself.
WREG’s Molly Smith asked, “Do you think it’s your responsibility to see what you’re defending? You’re defending a property you haven’t been to in one year.”
“I’ll let the court decide that,” Miller said.
The judge ordered the city to inspect half of the apartments in this complex and report their findings next month.
It wasn’t exactly what these frustrated residents wanted, but they said it’s better than nothing.
“You see tears, you see head shakes, you see frustration,” Jeffries said.
“We thought today would be our victory. It might take time, but it’s coming.”
