MEMPHIS, Tenn.– After speaking out in the hopes of getting better living conditions, some Memphis Towers residents claim they are being retaliated against and facing eviction.
Memphis Towers residents Yvonne Collins and Lewis Martin said they have been fighting for better conditions for years.
Now, those residents say they are being retaliated against.
“It got worse after we talked to the media,” Collins said.
Collins said she’s been harassed and hasn’t been able to renew her lease because of unreturned paperwork.
“They put this letter on my door. I never got the first notice but she did say you were in the media,” she said.
Lewis Martin said he got an eviction notice saying he used threatening language and damaged a door.
Tuesday night, police arrested Lewis for harassment.
“They told everybody he had broke the door. You say it was for harassment. I am like, what the hell is going on?” Collins said.
We reached out to Millennia, the managers of Memphis Towers, but they would not comment on Lewis Martin’s status.
But they said it was false that Collins was not allowed to renew her lease, saying “The property management team acts legally and appropriately in matters of issuing lease violations with documentation to support these actions.”
Jeremiah Smith, with the Memphis Tenants Union, is supporting the residents trying to make a change.
“And these tactics aren’t going to work, our tenant leaders are not going to stop fighting they’re not going to stop speaking out and they’re not going to stop,” Smith said. “Struggling with Millennia until Millennia provides what they are legally obliged to provide, which is running water.”
Tenants say it’s the least they deserve.
“We have the right to organize. We have the right to protest. We have the right to complain and demand from management some decent living up in here,” Collins said.
Lewis Martin’s arrest ticket says he was released on his own recognizance Wednesday.