MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Residents of an airport-area apartment complex say they’re living in unspeakable conditions, going without the basic necessities like water. All this while their landlord is apparently missing in action.
WREG first reported on the issues at the Willow Oaks Apartments complex last November. Four months later those residents are still living in limbo.
Several residents say they’ve called everyone they could for help. They got no answers so they reached out to us.
“It’s been terrible because the conditions we live in are unsuitable for anyone to stay in,” said Shuntae Daniels, who has lived at the Willow Oaks apartments for a year now.
When she walks outside her door she’s greeted by trash, litter and other blight.
“I feel bad staying in all this mess. I’ve never been in this type of environment before,” she said.
Daniels said she went without water for two weeks, and has dealt with rats and other issues. When she tried to call around for help she got no response.
“I had to go on Google, look people up and try to see who the owner of these apartments is, because we don’t have no management,” Daniels said.
WREG called the number listed for the complex and got a message that it was out of service.
Last November, we reported that Shelby County took over the property due to a delinquent tax sale. Since then, residents have had questions about who to call for issues and where to go.
We took their concerns back to county leaders who said in an email last month the property was divested to Patch of Land Lending. According to their website, it’s a real estate investment company located in California.
Shelby County assessor’s records indicate the property owner is Willow Oaks Properties LLC.
Residents say they don’t know what this means for them but each day their living conditions get worse.
“Last night it was a shooting right by my window,” Daniels said.
They hope someone does right by them soon because they’re not in a financial position to leave.
“You can’t just up and move like that with no money, especially if you have something else to do light bills to pay, kids’ clothes, shoes, food all that,” Daniels said.
Code enforcement was at the complex a week ago and issued several violations. If the property owner fails to comply they will have to appear in environmental court.
We sent the company an email about the issues at the complex. They have not yet responded.