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Landlord of troubled Arlington apartment complex says tenants are letting units deteriorate

Johanne Brouard didn’t shy away from questions when Action News Jax showed up Thursday.

She’s the chief operating officer of Eagle Properties, the landlord of Eagle Pointe Apartments in Arlington.

“We have three sets of contractors working here working in apartments, I have overstaffed my maintenance,” Brouard said.

The contractors said so far they’ve gutted and fixed more than 200 units. That’s about half of the units on the property.

Brouard said the biggest problem is that tenants, mostly those behind on their rent, are not letting her know about the problems in their units until it’s too late.

“I wish they would come to me instead of calling code enforcement, instead of calling the news. Come to me,” Brouard said. “I have never ever told anybody ‘I’m not fixing your apartment too bad.’ I’ve never done that. I have a heart. I care about my tenants.”

Crews were ripping out carpets and installing new toilets Thursday. Some units were even being gutted and completely rehabbed.

“We absolutely do not want our tenants living like that and I wish they would understand: Don’t be scared to come in and tell us,” Brouard said.

Action News Jax showed you a unit Tuesday, where the ceiling was caving in. On Thursday, the room with the damage was a construction zone.

Brouard said they’ve offered to move the tenant but he refuses.

“I’ve offered him to just go. I will clear his account. I won’t evict him. He will owe me nothing--go find another apartment and I got nothing. I get no responses,” Brouad said.

Wilma Williams said she been having issues with her bathroom since December.

“I’ve spoken to the maintenance office and the rental office about four times and they still have not fixed it,” said Williams.

Action News Jax suggested she take her concerns straight to Brouard.

“She promised me it would be done,” said Williams.

Brouard said she’s also hired workers to focus solely on fixing code enforcement violations.

She also said she's been going door to door for months because in some cases it's the only way she finds out what tenants need fixed.
"I don't care if you're not paying. If an issue is not fixed it gets worse and it ends up costing me more money. Rather than a $200 fix it becomes over a $3,000 fix," said Brouard.

Eagle Properties has been the property owner of Eagle Pointe Apartments for two years, Brouard said they inherited a lot of issues from the previous landlord.

She wants tenants to know that if they’re behind on their rent she is willing to work out a payment plan.