NORFOLK, Va. — Yasmine Charles said she doesn't know where to start when it comes to problems she has with Reserves at Tidewater in Norfolk. However, she knows where it will end.
She is suing the property managers for more than $1,000, alleging dangerous living conditions.
Charles moved into her apartment at Reserves at Tidewater back in November 2022. She said she was drawn to the beautiful kitchen inside her recently-developed apartment, but problems quickly started to emerge.
"I could never open up my window, so I put in a work order to get that fixed, and it just never happened," Charles told 13News Now. "So I put in another one, and called, and still nothing ever happened."
That is until a fire happened on March 9, 2023. A firefighter knocked on Charles' third-floor apartment to see if she was okay, and Charles said the incident left her shaken.
Her windows still could not be opened, and if the fire climbed any higher, Charles would have been left with no way out.
"It honestly put my life in danger, my apartment was not fire safety ready and it could have cost me my life," Charles said.
After this incident, Charles said more problems started to pile up.
She said her air conditioning doesn't work, her electricity bills have shot up to keep her fans going, her calls to the main office go unanswered, and she has acquired numerous late fees because she said the payment portal will randomly shut down.
"If you are out deployed, or elsewhere in the country, you cannot just walk into the main office to pay," Charles said. "What are people supposed to do?"
Charles is not the only resident to have maintenance issues with the apartment complex. Bobbie Robinson lives one building down from Charles and had to temporarily move out because of sewage that seeped through her bathtub.
"I took my towels and put them all over the floor trying to stop the flood," Robinson said. "I don't know if it stopped, I haven't been back, and I'm just praying that my bathroom isn't totally destroyed."
Robinson put in an emergency maintenance request but only received a notification that the voicemailbox was full. Charles said it's incidents like this, and what has happened in her own experience, that led her to file a civil lawsuit in Norfolk.
"They've messed with the right woman because I've officially had enough," Charles said.
A spokeswoman with Reserves at Tidewater did respond to 13News Now request, releasing a statement saying: We consider most of the referenced issues as emergencies and they would be resolved as quickly as possible with utmost priority and attention. We work closely with all City officials such as the City Inspector and the Fire Department to insure we comply with all requirements. We have no record of any outstanding violations or issues at this time.
Charles' civil case against the property managers at the Reserves of Tidewater is scheduled to happen on July 14.