HOUSTON – Nearly a week after Houston's mayor promised action for residents of a rundown apartment complex, some residents complained about new trouble.
At Crestmont Village Apartments, there's fresh paint on doors.
"They put a "V" on it," resident Charleston Garner said.
The "V" is a symbol for a vacant apartment and a warning to stay out certain units. Management is wary of crime—already this week, Houston police busted drug dealers in five vacant apartments.
Then, there's the "V" on Garner's front door. He has keys, a signed lease agreement and plenty of concern.
"(We were told) we have to leave or unless we get trespassing tickets and get taken to jail," he said.
"I'm hoping they'll just say this is a mistake," resident Tamelia Jackson said. "We didn't know. We got something confused."
Jackson said vandals trashed her original apartment. So, her family got keys to another unit and assurances from Crestmont Village's new court-appointed receiver.
"He told us to write it down," Jackson said. "And when we write it down no one would mess with our apartment because they know that someone is living in it."
"We have only two (families) like that," said Gerald Womack, the court-appointed receiver. "And we have not told them to move out. All we said is, ‘Right now, we are evaluating what we have on the rent roll.'"
Womack is in charge of collecting rent. On the phone, he said as long as residents can prove they belong, they will not be evicted. He sees problems, however.
"You've got a multitude of families that have lived there," Womack said. "They have moved back or tried to move back with the mom, or the cousin, the brother. They have heard there is some money that is on the table. And they're trying to get every relative some of this money."
Others just want homes that don't have holes in the bathroom floor.
"I'm a little relieved, I really am, to get my daughter up out of here," resident Shertira Massie said.
Massie, whose daughter is on a breathing machine, is one of 11 families who have found places to move. Eight are waiting for city inspectors to OK their new living arrangements. Three are waiting on checks from the city to pay their new deposit and first month's rent.
Eighty two other families are still searching for new homes. They're hoping to find a place before the end of the month.
Only a judge can close the complex, and there's a court hearing Oct. 8. Womack will ask the judge to close the complex.
