Residents concerned about conditions at South Memphis apartment complex

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Tenants at one South Memphis apartment complex are fed up with how they say the landlord is running things.

Residents at Chateau Kerr Apartments on Kerr Avenue say they are living in deplorable conditions, and nothing is being done.

“I have to turn the water off at the water tank or it’s going to continue to run, and my bill will be so high,” said Amber Lewis.

“Cockroaches, then you might see rats,” said Inell Mccain.

“I have to send my 2-year-old to get stuff out of the refrigerator, that’s not ok,” said Courtney Gaylor.

Several residents of the Chateau Kerr Apartments said their homes are anything but chateaus.

“That is fecal matter, feces and toilet paper and just nasty stuff,” said Gaylor, “I mean your toilets will just overflow and flood your house because of that,” said Lewis.

All of these residents have lived in the South Memphis apartment complex for about a year.

Tarvarious: “You want to go back home?” Gaylor: “I don’t want to go back to St. Louis but I want to leave here.”

“We have been cursed out, disrespected, he’ll[Peter Wofford] give you an eviction letter and send the sheriff to your door even if you haven’t been to court. You might have been 6 days late,” said Lewis.

Most recently, last Friday tenants say Wofford gave them a letter dated July 22, 2023, saying they had sold the property to a company called Y-N-Vest Realty. They say Wofford removed his name from the MLGW account and had the water turned off.

“Last night, I had to walk a block down carrying a pot to get water from the corner store so I could flush the toilet for my kids. That’s not ok to see your babies like that, it’s not ok for anybody to live like that,” said Lewis

According to the Shelby County assessor’s office, Peter Wofford still owns the property. When we spoke to Wofford on Thursday he told us that he closed on the property last week.

Wofford denied all the claims tenants are claiming. He says he has done everything to make sure people are treated the way he would like to be treated.

Wofford said tenants should contact the new owners to fix anything. Action News 5 tried calling the number of the company but could not reach anyone.

Tenants tell us something has to be done.

“I want to see something get better,” said Lewis.

“I just need help y’all,” said Mccain.

“Everybody needs help,” said Gaylor.

We tried contacting the company Y-N Vest Realty, the company that allegedly brought the property, but we are still waiting to hear back.

Click here to sign up for our newsletter!

Click here to report a spelling or grammar error. Please include the headline.