MEMPHIS, Tenn — Residents who call Peppertree Apartments home have had to live with collapsing walkways, the leasing office going up in flames and the constant threat of shootings, robberies and drug trafficking.
Some residents said they even had issues with rodent infestation.
“I have rat problems,” said resident Connie Huddleston. “They say they’re fixing it but (the rats) keep getting in there.”
Huddleston says she’s lived at the Whitehaven apartment complex run by Tesco Properties for almost four years. She said her family fears for her safety because of the condition it’s in.
“This is my home and I tell my family that,” she said. “They’re scared I’m going to get collapsed on one day because I live upstairs.”
The city of Memphis said it has tried to get ownership to improve conditions there throughout 2022. The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office labeled the apartment complex as a public nuisance in 2021 due to the high crime rate in the surrounding area.
“There were two different inspections that were conducted of the property (in 2022) and the owner received failing scores,” said City of Memphis chief legal officer Jennifer Sink. “(The owner) apparently, is now in default.”
Thursday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it is pulling its funding from the complex and will be relocating the residents from nearly 300 units.
“They're going to communicate with the residents, they're going to assist them in the relocation efforts there,” Sink said. “They've hired a company, to our knowledge, that's going to help with this process.”
HUD will also provide residents with vouchers based on income and household size. Sink says this process is something the city anticipated.
“The city, for the past year, has been evaluating what options there are for these residents,” she said. “We have been prepared for a year to relocate them if we needed to.”
But the news came as a surprise to Huddleston.
“They haven’t told me nothing,” she said. “I went and told (apartment staff) in December that, ‘I heard that ya’ll’re closing down and that we have to move.’ She said, ‘No you don’t.’ She said, ‘You need to stop repeating what people say, because they don’t know.’”
Sink expects the relocation process will begin some time around March and take several more months to complete. She is confident that all of the residents will be able to be rehoused.
“Living in a place that's safe, and that's decent and that’s sanitary,” she said.
Which is something Huddleston and her neighbors have been waiting for.
“I’m just hanging on,” Huddleston said. “Like a lot of people over here.”
Until all residents have moved out, Sink says Tesco Properties will remain responsible for maintaining the apartments and the city will be monitoring them.
HUD’s contract with Peppertree officially ends on January 14th.