Kingwood Residents Get Restraining Order Against Landlord

Directly across from Kingwood High School, which suffered so much flood damage it won’t reopen until the fall of 2018, is the Kingwood Lakes apartment complex. It also flooded during Hurricane Harvey as all first-floor units were feet deep in water.

The problem are the second-floor residents that said their units were also damaged by Harvey, but not from direct flooding.

Rabeea Collier is an attorney representing some of the tenants. “The major concern is that there’s actually mold present, which has created a hazardous living condition,” Collier said.

Adara Communities manages the complex and won’t let second-floor tenants out of their lease. They’ve gone so far as to send one second-floor resident, who doesn’t feel safe living there, a “Notice of Abandoned Building” threatening to remove and dispose of or store personal property in the apartment.

Adara claims that after walking through each unit they saw no evidence of mold. Collier disagrees, and said she’s got the photos to prove it.

“After management had told the tenant that the apartment had been treated, from the pictures you will see the entire vent appears to be just completely overtaken by the mold,” said Collier.

On October 12, the District Court of Harris County issued a temporary injunction against Adara Communities, LLC, Adara Management, LLC, and Adara Property Management, LLC.

Adara Communities would not speak on record about Kingwood Lakes but did send a copy of a letter they had previously delivered to KHOU.

Management said they will pay for any inspection. Collier said after testing three units, lab results show toxic mold in the apartments.

EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this story addressed the plaintiff’s attorney as Rabeea Collins. The attorney’s correct name is Rabeea Collier.