CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A mother of three signed a lease and put some money down on a Portland townhouse, and then... she checked the place out.
In her words, "I feel like I need to shower when I come home. You can smell the roach infestation when you walk in the door."
So she called us asking for help getting out of her lease and getting a refund for the money she’s already paid.
Caitlin Young and her family live in Ingleside, and their home is up for sale. They’re downsizing, which is how they found the townhouse at Bridge Pointe Landing in Portland.
She invited us inside her unit, and if you couldn’t smell that aroma she referred to, you couldn’t miss seeing where it came from.
When Young pulled the stove out away from the wall, we saw dead roaches, rodent droppings and small openings in the wall where they could get into the kitchen.
"Yesterday, there was still peanut butter on here," she said as she showed us mouse traps she had placed on a kitchen countertop. "So something has eaten the peanut butter but not set off the trap."
Young says she’s already paid more than $1,700 to management and did move a few boxes in, but has never spent a night at the townhome.
"Did you ever sign the lease ?" we asked. "Yes sir," she confirmed.
Young claims she’s notified management about the issues numerous times.
"And she told me 'this does not make a dwelling uninhabitable'. She told me 'there’s nothing illegal about this', and 'there’s nothing in the lease that makes this a reason for termination'."
So Young contacted Portland Code Enforcement. After their inspection, a notice was sent to the Juniper Investment Group of Houston, who own the property, noting five code violations.
One of the violations included infestation, saying; "structures shall be free from insect and rodent infestation. Structures in which insects or rodents are found shall be promptly exterminated by approved processes that will not be injurious to human health. After pest elimination, proper precautions shall be taken to prevent re-infestation."
"I’ve gone over there every day to take photos and I feel like I need to shower when I come home. You can smell the roach infestation when you walk in the door," Young told the Troubleshooters.
The Troubleshooters visited the management office before leaving the property. Shelby Perez advised us to contact GVA Property Management.
We did.
We asked for information or an interview on Young's case.
They have yet to respond.
On November 2, Young hired an attorney to send a Demand Letter to management, giving them 14 days to refund Young the nearly $1,700 she’s already paid them because she will not move her family into a place like this.
Young has now moved out for good. She just wants her money back.
