NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) — The Shorter College Gardens apartments in North Little Rock are now drawing attention from city leaders and the Arkansas Attorney General’s office. After losing their Section 8 housing contract on November 1, residents say they are left living in conditions that are no longer safe or livable.
For many people at Shorter Gardens, moving isn’t an option. Residents say they are simply dealing with the cards they were dealt.
“If I could leave, I would have been left,” said Angela Phillips, a Shorter College Gardens resident.
Phillips is one resident who says she has been forced to live with issues for more than three years.
“I’ve been in two different apartments since I’ve been here and both apartments have had issues,” Phillips said.
Phillips says these aren’t small problems. She reports mushrooms growing from the walls, flooding, and stopped up tubs and toilets.
“It’s kind of hard to live out here. Because I mean I’m at home, but I have to go to my sister’s house to shower or go to my daughter’s house to use the bathroom,” Phillips said.
The complex lost its Section 8 contract at the start of the month. HUD ended the agreement because the owners failed to fix major health and safety hazards.
“You call and tell them you need something repaired, they tell you to make a report and they never show up,” Phillips said.
The City of North Little Rock has known about problems at the apartments. The city recently had to turn on water and electricity for residents, whether they had paid their bills or not, because the owners of the property had not paid theirs.
“We couldn’t get in touch with the owners of the property. They’re from out of state, they don’t care. I just didn’t want those people who were living there not to at least have some hot water,” said North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick.
Even understanding who owns Shorter Gardens is difficult. Millennia Housing Management’s name is on the sign, but so is Arnold Grounds. Both have connections to Saint John’s Apartments in Pine Bluff, which also lost their Section 8 contract last month. Millennia Companies has been cited by HUD for mismanagement and was banned from receiving new HUD funding for five years.
“The conditions are horrible. I wish Tim Griffin would file suit on them,” Hartwick said.
A spokesperson for Attorney General Tim Griffin confirms the office is investigating the apartments and their management. The company is already being sued following a 2022 fire at Shorter Gardens that killed three residents.
“Why did it take North Little Rock till now to get involved and step in?”
“I guess the best way I can say this is you had people still wanting to live there. It’s not like we didn’t want to. We’ve had vouchers sent to them as far as back in September. They just don’t move. I’m not saying it’s one person’s fault but it’s a process. If you don’t go through the process of taking your voucher and find someplace else then it gets to this,” Hartwick said.
Section 8 vouchers allow tenants to move to other participating apartments, but Phillips says many residents simply cannot afford the cost of relocating.
“Right now, I’m not working I don’t have any income so how am I supposed to move, how am I supposed to pay a deposit, how am I supposed to pay the extra bills? And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one that’s going to have that issue,” Phillips said.
Documents from North Little Rock Code Enforcement show the city contacted Millennia Companies in September. The company said they are not closing the apartments but hope to sell them by the start of next year. Mayor Hartwick says the city is already preparing to condemn the property.
“The city could’ve been more persistent, but it is owned by a company that doesn’t do business here. We try to contact them so, you just can’t go out there and tear down a building without going through the process,” Hartwick said.
Once all residents have moved out, the mayor says the city will bring a vote to condemn the property before the North Little Rock City Council. Millennia Companies and Arnold Grounds have not responded to requests for comment.
Mayor Hartwick says the goal is to move the more than 70 remaining residents out within the next two weeks.
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