The Brief
Plano officials ordered residents to vacate Evana Grove Apartments by Tuesday, calling it the city’s worst complex.
The property racked up nearly 1,500 code violations and $250,000 in unpaid water bills before being deemed uninhabitable.
The city is working with charities to help tenants relocate as the complex’s owners face a court hearing next week.
PLANO, Texas – Residents of a North Texas apartment complex have been ordered to evacuate due to a multitude of code violations.
The director of Plano Neighborhood Services called Evana Grove the worst apartment complex in the city.
Plano apartment evacuation order
Over the past two years, the city found roughly 1,500 code violations.
It met with the property management group two months ago to fix the issues, but they were never resolved.
Now, the city says the conditions are simply not livable and tenants have until Tuesday, Nov. 4, to move out.
According to its website, the company owns properties across the country. Public records show there have been lawsuits filed regarding their Florida properties.
Clayton Bigelow has called Evana Grove home since 2011. It was the last place he lived with his wife before she passed away in 2023.
He told FOX 4 he had hoped to live out the rest of his life at the complex. Now, he has to box up his things and move out by Tuesday. He said the water went out last week, and conditions at the apartments were bad in general, but he didn’t realize the issues would never be fixed.
The City of Plano says it turned the water off at the complex because the property owners, Lurin Real Estate Holdings, owes the city upwards of $250,000 dollars for water usage.
But utility bills are just the tip of the iceberg. The city says over the last two years, 70 court cases have been filed regarding the 1,500 code violations the complex has been found guilty of. Those violations include trash piling up, people breaking into vacant apartments, and sewage spills.
Plano official on Evana Grove
Plano Neighborhood Services
What they’re saying
Curtis Howard, the director of Plano Neighborhood Services, says the city filed for a temporary restraining order this week.
“We had a meeting with them a couple months ago, and they knew what our concerns were, and they were going to work on remedying but that did not happen,” Howard said.
The Collin County District Court is now requiring the owners and management group to remove all tenants because the property is uninhabitable.
“This is the worst apartment complex we have in the city of Plano. We’ve got, as I said, families, we’ve got children that are living in squalor and, because of that, that puts them at risk for disease, puts them at risk for injury,” Howard said.
Collin County order to Evana Grove residents
Howard says neighborhood services has been working with charitable organizations to help tenants find housing and moving assistance.
Other apartment complexes in the area handed out flyers to Evana Grove residents to help them find a new home. As for Bigelow, he will move with the help of his friends and church community, and start a new chapter.
“They are the victims in this situation, and it’s terrible for them, and hopefully, as they move forward here, they’re going to get into a place that is going to be a lot better for them to live, a lot safer for those kids. That’s what we’re hoping for,” Howard said.
What we don’t know
It’s unclear if the property management company is helping residents with the move-out process.
FOX 4 reached out to Lurin Real Estate Holdings, but they have yet to respond.
What’s next
There is a hearing for this case next Friday.
The Source
Information in this report came from FOX 4 interviews with Plano officials and residents.