LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — People living in the Lexington Villas apartment complex still face a number of maintenance issues despite new management being brought in.
Director of code enforcement Lee Steele shared that over the past 120 days, 12 units have had known violations. Two of those units were condemned, he said. The number is not abnormal for a complex of that size, Steele said.
Seven of the units have now had their cases closed, indicating the issues have been resolved. He credited the new management for bringing on an above-average number of maintenance staff.
Selena Silva, who lives in one of the apartments, said she feels the actual number of units with issues was much higher than 12. She says her neighbors are scared to speak up.
She’s faced issues with her own apartment. Every three hours for the past two weeks, she replaces the towels in her living room - all to prevent flooding.
Water has been pooling outside and has been finding its way inside.
“I have just experienced a level of anxiety I’ve never really had, I’ve never lived anywhere where every day I have to worry about a leak,” Silva said.
Back in December, we spoke to the tenants inside two other apartments at Lexington Villas. They told us at the time maintenance would only fix issues if code enforcement got involved.
One of those units was, for at least a time, condemned by code enforcement.
“It’s terrifying to have your home not feel like a home but a cage that you have to pay for because they will scream at you and call you and harass you about rent, but they will ignore you for months and years about maintenance issues,” Silva said.
She said that while the maintenance person the property hired is great, fixes have not come quickly enough, and more has to be done. While she is moving out, she worries about others living at the complex who can’t do the same.
