City resolves lawsuits against apartment complexes, class-action lawsuit continues

Susie Long Williams apologized for the brisk temperatures in her apartment in Woodley Oaks on Dec. 5. She said she had been without heat since Sept. 3. Williams is part of a lawsuit that lawyer Sayge Grubbs filed on behalf of 190 people who live in Woodley Oaks, Woodley Terrace and Brentwood Estates. EEG owns the three Montgomery complexes. The goal of the lawsuit is to force EEG to fix issues within the apartment complexes.

While Williams has lived there, she's had two floods in the unit and a leak in the top of the ceiling twice. People across the apartment complexes have expressed similar problems. Williams' gas was restored in December, but the apartment still was not heating properly. She was scheduled for a December surgery to treat her breast cancer and said she needs the heat to work for her to heal. While the heat was out, Williams was warming up her bath water on a hot plate.

“I just want them to do me right," she said. "I been here for five years. The last two years have been hell." Williams and Grubbs said they suspect the delay was because Williams is a part of the class-action lawsuit against EEG. “They do anything they can do to not fix the property. To me, it’s predatory because these people have gotten into these properties, and they know that it’s going to be a struggle to move," Grubbs said. EEG did not respond to a request for comment by publication. Judge J.R. Gaines will make a decision on the case Jan. 28. Grubbs and former Judge Charles Price argued for an injunction against EEG on in December that would keep EEG from selling the three apartments.

City lawsuits give deadline to act:

The city of Montgomery filed three lawsuits against the individual apartment complexes and settled out of court with EEG. Montgomery City Councilman Oronde Mitchell pushed for the lawsuits and said that if EEG does not comply with the court agreement the city will sue again. More: Previous Coverage Two lawsuits seek to improve conditions for Montgomery apartment residents Mitchell said the agreement states that within 45 days, EEG must provide the city with a list of people in the apartments. Management for each apartment complex must do a tour to check for deficiencies. They must then fix the issues. Within 150 days, management must provide the city with a list of the deficiencies and state how they were fixed. They must send a report to the city every two weeks and clean the common areas. The agreement also required the apartment complexes to install adequate lighting for common areas. The ruling allows the city to inspect cleanliness and the lighting of apartments after 60 days. “Hopefully we will see some changes in the conditions in these apartment complexes," Mitchell said. "If not, we’ll have to refile, but we wanted to start somewhere."

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Alex Gladden is the Montgomery Advertiser's education reporter. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @gladlyalex.