Fort Worth-area apartment complex still isn’t safe, officials say; tenants want out
Lakendra Osborne says it’s time for the City of Hurst to shut down the Dakota Place Apartments.
Osborne lives at the apartment complex, which has over 700 health and safety violations including mold, leaking roofs and broken plumbing. She and her husband Jaquille worry about finding another place to live, but safety has to come first, she said.
“They (city officials) need to shut this place down. Someone is going to get hurt or killed,” she said.
The Osbornes spoke to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram after a Hurst City Council public hearing where they talked about their concerns.
Osborne said her mother, who recently had a kidney transplant and also lives at the Dakota Place, was told by doctors that she needed to move to a hotel because the mold was a health hazard.
Osborne said her mother did not want to be identified or interviewed because she fears retaliation.
After the hearing, the council voted unanimously to issue additional fines of $28,000 against the property owner, Charles Mercer, who already owes over $200,000 in unpaid fines for failing to bring the Dakota Place up to health and safety standards.
Another public hearing is scheduled for July.
In addition to levying more fines, Hurst is also suing Mercer for failing to comply with orders to repair the complex. This week, Hurst also filed legal documents requesting that the court appoint a receiver to take over the daily management and operations of the Dakota Place.
City attorney Matthew Boyle said in an email to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Hurst wants a receiver to manage the Dakota Place because Charles Mercer and his wife are “unwilling or unable to competently perform even the basic duties of a landlord.”
Mercer said he is confident that the court won’t appoint a receiver, and accused Hurst officials of lying about the conditions at Dakota Place.
Mercer told the Star-Telegram that 90 percent of the work Hurst ordered has been completed.
When asked about the fines, Mercer said, “That’s why we’re going to court to seek justice.”
Mercer added that if tenants don’t like the conditions, they can move out.
“Some don’t think they have to pay their rent; they don’t like me,” he said.
When asked about why the city hasn’t ordered to shut down the apartment complex, Boyle said, “Part of that consideration is based on the fact that many of the tenants at the Dakota Place reside there as a place of last resort and the city is sensitive to their plight.”