Mold Problem At Norman Apartment Complex, One Tenant Taking Legal Action

Mold complaints prompt the city of Norman to take action against an apartment complex.

It's a complex that News 9 has learned is owned by the same company that owns the Summit Ridge Apartments in Oklahoma City. News 9 ran a story on the issues at Summit Ridge, Tuesday night.

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Leigha Keovixay said she moved into the Applecreek Apartments last November. She said her young son was diagnosed with asthma a month later. She also got sick and developed a rash last month.

Keovixay said Applecreek's staff ignored her oral and written requests to fix the mold problem, so she called the city of Norman a few weeks ago.

Wednesday, a city inspector issued a ruling declaring Keovixay's unit “unfit for human habitation.” She said she and her son fled several days ago and has hired an attorney. Applecreek management is still demanding she pay June's $550 rent.

“This is going to keep happening, and there's going to keep being children sick and people being taken advantage of,” Keovixay said Thursday.

Petra Flenory lives in another Applecreek unit. She said her teenage son has developed asthma, and that she constantly feels sick.

“It drives me crazy, I can't afford to go to the doctor. I've had rashes on me, I mean I'm constantly hoarse,” she said Thursday from inside her unit.

News 9's Steve Shaw noticed a foul damp smell in her unit, and she showed the crew black splotches of what looked like mold in her son's closet, in her closet, and on the ceiling of their bathroom.

At Summit Ridge Apartments on Tuesday, instead of answering questions, an Applecreek manager ordered News 9 to leave their office, “or I'll call the police,” she said.

Both Applecreek and Summit Ridge are owned by a company that calls itself CR Operating Company, in Agoura Hills, California.