Westbury Reserve Apartment residents complain of poor living conditions

Southwest Houston apartment residents complain about trash pile

Residents at the Westbury Reserve Apartments in southwest Houston are speaking out after looking at piles of trash for weeks. They tell us that they fear they're living in a health hazard.

HOUSTON - Residents at one Houston-area apartment complex are concerned as a major trash pileup is continuing. 

Residents at Westbury Reserve Apartment worried about trash pileup

The smell is just as bad as the site, and residents at the Westbury Reserve Apartments say, for weeks now, this is what they’ve seen every day. 

"I can't get mad no more. I can't open my window. I come out here every day, especially with that rain. You know how that smell," said Bernard Joseph. "They ain't dump the trash in two months, go all the way around here, you’ll see." 

"It's only going to get worse as the sun comes up," said Robert Gutherie. 

Residents complain of unsafe and unhealthy living conditions.

For weeks and months, residents here say they’ve also been living with no AC and no hot water. 

Residents also say folks from the community who are not paying rent here make their way into these apartments. They say they are breaking down doors and picking locks and making themselves homes, causing real safety concerns.  

"People sleep in them off the street," Joseph said. "Break the door down, kick the door in. Sometimes the door be open." 

"There is no exterminator to exterminate the bugs, there is not hot water since Christmas, and they take the money out for gas and water and exterminator services, but they don’t provide it for us." said Guthrie.

What we don't know:

FOX 26 has reached out to the apartment complex for comment, but at this time, we have not received any comment. 

For now, residents are hoping someone will do something to help them.

"I’m a Vietnam Vet. I’ve been through adversity before and this is just temporary. This too shall pass," Guthrie said.

Solid Wast Management Department's response

What they're saying:

We have not heard back from some of the city departments we reached out to for comment.

We did receive a statement from Larius Hassen, Interim Director of Solid Waste Management on Thursday:

"The Solid Waste Management Department visited the property on April 12 and issued a citation for overflow conditions. As a courtesy, our crews will drop off containers today for residents to dispose of their garbage and clean up any debris that is on the ground. The property owner will incur the cost, as the City of Houston is not the service provider for any private properties such as apartment complexes.
In addition to our department’s actions, the Department of Neighborhoods (DON) will also be conducting an inspection to address both health hazard due to uncollected garbage and reported sewer complaints. This may result in additional citations and the property owner being required to take immediate corrective action.