On Your Side Investigation: Landlord evicts tenants after they complain about mold and other issues in apartments

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) - Mold, buckling ceilings and rats are what residents living in an apartment complex near Legion field say they have been dealing with for months.

We've been investigating these issues for weeks after we got tips from people who live there. Just as our story was about to air Monday, the landlord handed out eviction notices to some of those residents.

A few weeks after Jacinta Dunklin complained to us about issues in her Flamingo Court apartment, she's now been told to get out. Jefferson County deputies served her an eviction notice Monday.

"It didn't start until I filed a complaint. Like my roof has been leaking since January. I've got black mold everywhere," Dunklin said.

A garbage bag covering a hole in Dunklin's ceiling is just one of many issues. She says when it rains, it pours into her living room.

"It already leaked in three places.  I called and told him. He told me to get a bucket because his roof was leaking as well. But it fell in. So I had someone put a garbage bag up because its just exposed," Dunklin said.

She says rats and other pests are eating their way into her apartment through her back door..

"We can't live like this. Its uninhabitable. You know what I'm saying. We shouldn't be made to live like this just because they are low income apartments," Dunklin added.

Jennifer Honeycutt's ceiling is starting to buckle next door plus she's got a lot of creepy crawlers in her kitchen. She says those pests and rats are also finding a way into her apartment.

"Something needs to be done about this. We have kids who live out here. We have elderly people who live out here and we should not be subject to live like this. Its not right. If you go to Hoover, you don't see all of this rubbish. But just because we're in the outer skirts of the suburban area, we still shouldn't be subject to living like this," Honeycutt said.

She's got issues with plumbing in her bathroom as well and we won't even talk about the smell.

"There's a hole in there that's about that big. It's a size of an infant that can fit in," Honeycutt said.

Residents say they've tried getting the owner to fix the problems for months. Owner Larry Davidson didn't want to go on camera but told us over the phone Jacinta and at least another tenant are late on their rent and says he doesn't have enough money from residents to fix the issues.

Jacinta and other resident ask why would they continue to pay the landlord if he's not going to fix the issues?

Once Davidson saw our camera today, he hightailed it out of there. We did reach out to him today and are still waiting to hear back.

Last week, we went around and inspected six apartments there and made a list and found issues with a majority of them.

We reached out to the Jefferson County Health Department about the conditions inside the apartments. They are now investigating. We'll keep you updated on what they find.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, you do have renter's rights.

By state law, tenants have a right to a decent place to live. Housing codes must be up to par. There must be working AC and heat, hot and cold water, etc.

If the landlord is unresponsive to complaints, tell them in writing that you'll terminate the lease if the repairs aren't made within 14 days.

However in Alabama, you are not allowed to withhold rent for a landlord's failure to make repairs.

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