U.S. Representative Al Lawson was the second member of Congress in a week to proclaim rodent-ridden, federal-subsidized apartments in Jacksonville when he said the residents of the Hilltop Village Apartments should be relocated Thursday until the exterminators finished Can eliminate infestation.
“It is unacceptable that young mothers who live in the units and work to raise healthy children are forced to put their food in airtight containers so that pathogenic rodents cannot interfere with their child’s development,” said Lawson, D- Tallahassee, in a statement.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio last week pursued a similar target in two other apartments – Eastside Terrace Apartments and Eastside Gardens Apartments – which Rubio said suffered from unacceptably poor living conditions.
All three apartments are financially supported by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide housing for low-income residents. The apartments are not managed or owned by the Jacksonville Housing Authority, but have contracts with HUD, which is responsible for verifying that they are up to federal standards.
State Representative Tracie Davis: Hilltop Village has not been inspected by HUD since 2015
State Rep. Tracie Davis, D-Jacksonville, said Thursday that HUD has not inspected the Hilltop Village Apartments since Dec. 2, 2015.
She said that the Eastside Gardens Apartments had not carried out an HUD inspection of the Real Estate Assessment Center as of November 13, 2018, while the Eastside Terrace Apartments failed such an inspection on November 19, 2019 with 51 out of 100 possible points Received grade. She said HUD did not do a follow-up exam.
“It is outrageous that residents of the Hilltop Village Apartments, Eastside Terrace Apartments and Eastside Gardens Apartments have waited so long for a security and hygiene check,” said Davis.
Lawson said he spoke with HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge about the need for “immediate action”.
Officials from the HUD offices in Jacksonville and Washington DC did not immediately return calls and emails for comment.
The city can also conduct inspections of the apartment complexes.
Quotes were given to all but one of the 59 Hilltop Village homes inspected by Jacksonville officials
In the Hilltop Village case, the City of Jacksonville dispatched an inspection team to her on Wednesday and knocked on 166 doors to gain access to the apartments to review the conditions.
Of 59 apartments that inspectors were able to enter, 58 units received quotes for “various minimum housing problems” and one apartment received no quotes, according to the city.
Residents of 13 units denied inspectors entry and no one opened the door to 94 apartments where the city left contact information so they could call. Tenants of three apartments followed to schedule inspections.
The inspection flash and the request for HUD action came after news from WJXT-TV Channel 4 reported on the living conditions of the residents.
Prior to Wednesday’s inspection of Hilltop Village, the city’s complaint tracking system revealed four cases at the complex since the beginning of the current fiscal year on October 1, according to the city.
One entry was a duplicate of a complaint filed in the previous fiscal year pending a hearing. A complaint was closed after the renter said the owner had solved the problem. A complaint is pending while the city is working with the tenant on a complaint time for the inspector to enter the apartment and the city has reached out to HUD for assistance on a point, according to the city.
Lawson said the city should move Hilltop Village Apartments residents to “safe and clean temporary housing while the city and the HUD address this dire situation”.
He said residents had complained about rodent and roach infestations, live mold spores and exposed trash in the apartment complex.
He said the latest round of city inspections showed “multiple violations” such as insect infestation and broken smoke alarms, sinks, toilets and containers that need replacing.
