TULSA, Okla. — Tenants of the code violation plagued Crossing at Southern Hills Apartments feared what could happen to them if the City of Tulsa shuts off water to the complex.
The City notified the apartment owners and managers to pay a past-due water bill balance of more than $36,000, by 10 a.m. July 15th or a shut off work order would be issued.
Just half an hour before deadline, Carson Colvin with the City of Tulsa let the Problem Solvers know the bill had been paid.
WATCH: 2 News Problem Solvers started digging into issues at this complex earlier this summer:
Over the weekend, tenants asked the Problem Solvers what would happen if water was cut off because they claimed they could not get answers from their property's staff. They also wanted to know what happens if the bill goes unpaid again?
2 News passed those concerns on to city officials and will share those answers when we get them.
Previously around noon on July 12, Kevin Cox with Tulsa Code Enforcement said this:
"Payment has not been made as of today. We are continuing to monitor this situation. In addition, our Multifamily Team has attempted to contact the apartment complex this morning to get an update but have not heard back from them."
On Thursday, I spoke with several residents who did not want to be identified because they fear being evicted if they voice their concerns to the media.
What happens to them if the water is shut off?
2 News checked with Eric Hallett at Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma.
"We see this several times a year with apartments not maintaining their utilities and being threatened with cut-off. The out-of-state owner isn't paying their bill and the tenants are threatened with possible eviction because the City can't allow people to be living where there's not water. It's not safe. Those families face forced displacement over something they can't control," said Hallett.
What happens if the City is forced to shut down the complex because there is no water?
"If this place shuts down, the tenants are entitled to their deposits returned to them and any pre-paid rent being returned to them; however, these companies probably won't give that money back," Hallett said, "The tenants are going to have to take a lot of steps to ask for that money if
they do find the right person to even ask. And when they ask for that money back, the landlord will have 45 days to respond, but most of the time, they don't respond at all."
What happens if the tenants fear retaliation from landlords if they voice concerns about their living conditions to the media?
"Retaliation is a real fear for tenants because Oklahoma law doesn't protect tenants from retaliation. A tenant on a month-to-month lease and you file a complaint with the City or the Health Department the landlord can just give you a 30-day notice to vacate and that is the situation a lot of tenants find themselves in. It can be impossible for them to move their home in 30 days,
and then they end up facing eviction, which makes it harder for them to find another place to go.
Have state lawmakers made any effort to provide tenants with protection from retaliation?
"Our legislature has failed to pass an anti-retaliation statute," said Hallett. "They've turned it down several years in a row and not given those protections."
Kevin Cox with the Tulsa Multifamily Dwelling Code Enforcement Task Force wants tenants to know that if they call 311 to complain about possible code violations, the task force does not tell the landlord or property owner who made the complaint to provide tenants with at least some protection from potential retaliation.
Click here to visit Tulsa's Code Enforcement website.
Contact the Problem Solvers:
- 918-748-1502
- problemsolvers@kjrh.com
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