LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Holes, leaks, and bug infestations are just some of the conditions that people who have been living in the Big Country Chateau apartments have had to head home to.
This comes after residents testified in city court on Monday as the sentencing for code violations, was once again pushed back to next week.
The city's lawsuits date back as far as 2019 as tenants were struggling under near-lawlessness.
As court proceedings have continued, and residents have struggled under current conditions, the city now wants to offer immediate help.
Hasaunee Keri has lived at Big Country Chateau for over a year and has been looking for a way out.
"I'm psychologically traumatized. I can't sleep, I know the mold. I just can't breathe in there... I'm just so upset that the court, you know, made determinations to really continue this. We need compensation. " Keri said.
Big Country Chateau is facing cases from the feds, the state, and the city, whose case was pushed back after big country management failed to show up.
Deputy City Attorney Alan Jones explained, "We're able to hear testimony from some of the tenants of the city have spoken with, we do have two city employees that are going to come back this next day, so we can conclude the sentencing."
Big Country's lawyer, Sylvester Smith, estimates that the complex owes $100,000 in overdue utility bills.
"The onsite manager, its been wild... I think the most important issue that came up today, even from the state's witnesses is that no one's paying rent... A landlord can't provide quality housing, when they're not generating the revenue, to pay their vendors to pay their utilities," he described.
While the courts decide on the fate of the apartment complex, Little Rock's Department of Housing and Neighborhood Programs has been working to help tenants relocate.
Program Director Kevin Howard said, "The programs are working to try to file some other complexes that will work with them with their situation so they can receive that assistance."
Through Wednesday, tenants are able to call the Little Rock housing department for help with rent payments and hotel vouchers for new permanent housing plans.
The program has been helping more than just the tenants of Big Country Chateau, it's also helped another apartment complex just down the road.
"We just started last week and that's a process. But you got to be willing to work and move forward with the process too, as well because it takes accountability on their part too," Howard explained.
As code enforcement and fire officials have reported multiple life safety violations, they've kept many apartments boarded up.
"We are living in chaos. We're at war. This is war," Keri said.