CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A 100 percent disabled veteran says he had to move out of his apartment because of issues with management that he says triggered his PTSD.
But it appears the property ownership is still contacting him for payment of past due charges for bills he never got, so the vet has asked the Troubleshooters for help getting this resolved.
Jon Hinojosa told us that ownership claims he still owes them an estimated $2,000.
He's already found a new place to live for him and his service dog Bane. He says he's a 100% disabled veteran after serving in the first Desert Storm engagement.
He lived at the Bay Tree Apartments on Ocean Drive from October 2019 through April 2021. But as soon as his lease expired, Hinojosa told the Troubleshooters, he had to move out.
"Did you break your lease?," we asked him.
"No sir," he replied.
"Why did you move out?," we continued.
"They were aggravating my PTSD," he replied.
The 'they' Hinojosa referred to is GVA Management, which took over ownership of the Bay Tree property on Ocean in September 2020. Tenants were notified in a letter, which read in part:
"this takeover has no impact on your lease or rental agreement."
So what happened?
"Apparently, they want back-rent that they say I haven’t paid," he told the Troubleshooters. "Or water and sewage and trash removal, which bills I never got. Also I’ve got gas bills, and I’ve never received a gas bill from the original owners. I don’t even have a gas furnace or anything. My apartment’s all electric."
In November, Hinojosa received a notice from a collection agency about his balance.
GVA Managment is based in Austin and owns 17 properties in Corpus Christi, but the Troubleshooters began receiving emails from disgruntled GVA residents in May. One of them was from Hinojosa.
On December 6, 2021, we contacted GVA's Asset Manager Jake Pohl about Hinojosa's situation. He told us it would get taken care of.
But Hinojosa told us nothing happened.
"It’s just very frustrating when you know you’re in the right and these people are just lying to you, and trying to bully you and push you around and expecting you to roll over. And they just want to take your money," he told us.
So we contacted Pohl again last week, and eventually spoke with GVA Executive Vice President Laura Smith. Friday afternoon we received their response in an email which read in part:
“We researched Mr. Hinojosa’s concerns and we identified issues with his account. We corrected the issue and cleared the collections account. We are thankful for the opportunity to correct the situation.
Related to other resident complaints, without details regarding the situation, we cannot research or respond to their issues. We encourage these residents to please reach out to us with their specific concerns so that we can provide a solution....
GVA prioritizes taking care of all residents, always. Recently, we have had a turnover in our management in Corpus Christi and we do not want residents to feel they aren’t being heard or their issues are not being resolved. If a resident has a specific maintenance issue or any issue that isn’t being resolved, they should contact our office at 737-910-8817 or contact@gvamgt.com."
We did check with Hinojosa to make sure he was aware of this latest development. He says he checked with the collection agency and they told him they're just waiting on paperwork from Jake Pohl to clean his account, and that should happen by Wednesday.
