HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The city of Houston may soon have what one council member is calling a public “naughty list” to shame unsafe and poorly run apartment complexes into improving conditions.
“We have about 5,000 apartment complexes in the city of Houston — 2500 of them, half of them, do not meet all of the habitability requirements of the State of Texas,” said At-Large Position 4 Houston City Council Member Letitia Plummer.
On Wednesday, Plummer’s colleagues on the city council are expected to vote on the apartment reform ordinance she has worked on for nearly half a decade. If passed, the ordinances would create the Apartment Standards Enforcement Committee, also known as ASEC. It would bring together entities that typically address apartment health and safety violations, such as the solid waste, health, and fire departments.
“That is now unifying all of the partners and stakeholders. That’s never happened before. Typically, everyone’s working in silos and no one really knows what’s going on,” she said.
The newly unified team will also publish a list of the “top five worst complexes.”
Complexes that land on the list will be given six months to address complaints while working closely with ASEC. Emergency conditions, such as no running water, will be held to tighter deadlines. The list is intended to shame complexes into compliance.
“You’re going on the naughty list and everyone in the city of Houston will know!” Plummer laughed.
Plummer said the list will refresh every six months. In order to land on the list, a complex must have at least ten “vetted” citations within the past year.
Shemekia Brooks, who told ABC13 she has experienced issues such as rats and mold at her Sunnyside apartments, said she supports the ordinance.
“That needs to happen. They need to pass that bill as soon as possible,” she said.
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