Woman wants out of her lease after months of leaks, floods in metro apartment complex - OKC, OK
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A frustrated tenant wants out of her lease
Waymark Code: WM1020G
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 02/09/2019
Views: 4
The living conditions for one tenant at an OKC apartment complex have her wanting out of the lease. Augusta Apts. are on the north side of 122nd St., between Meridian and Portland.
Article text:
Seven months after moving into the Augusta Apartments, Lauren McCombs is still living out of boxes.
She says right after she moved in, her apartment flooded. It's an issue she still deals with, and says the apartment management offers little to no help.
"It's like every time I leave the apartment, I'm wondering what I'm going to come home to," she said.
Videos and pictures taken over the course of her residence show water dripping from her bathroom ceiling and unidentifiable puddles in her living room. Just days ago, she said she smelled sewage in her home and found a mess in her dining area.
"It looked like brown and yellow chunks with some foam in it," she said. "They should fix the issue because it's a health hazard but I, personally, just want to leave."
She says she's reported the issues to the property management.
"I'll put in a request for maintenance and they’ll come out and re-sheetrock it so it looks like it's possibly fixed but you know it's not because it continues to flood."
She said she was also denied a request to be moved to another unit. She's convinced the issues aren't being properly fixed and she feels sewage and possible mold are making their way into her unit.
We went to Augusta Apartments' leasing office to ask what it takes to break a lease, especially considering McCombs' efforts to address what she believes is a health issue.
"We don't have any authority over someone's safety," said one of the leasing office employees. "So we're here to protect the asset and take care of the asset. I'm not going to say that to a resident of course, because I don't want them to feel like we're not taking care of them because we are, with our customer service."
We were told a resident has to pay the equivalent of two months rent to break the lease, and that military personnel are usually the only people who would easily be released from their leases.
"I don't feel like it's safe living conditions, I shouldn't have to pay to leave," said McCombs.
Type of publication: Television
When was the article reported?: 01/25/2019
Publication: Oklahoma's News 4
Article Url: [Web Link]
Is Registration Required?: no
How widespread was the article reported?: local
News Category: Health/Medicine
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