Belton tenants worry about response times to maintenance requests

BELTON, Texas (KWTX) - Some Belton renters are frustrated about how long it takes maintenance to make repairs at their apartments.

These renters, who all live at the Montrose Place Apartments, say they have sometimes gone months without seeing any kind of permanent fix. In just one month Deann Hojnacki’s AC unit has gone out not once, not twice, but three times.

”My sister came and brought me this window unit,” Hojnacki said.

She’s now resorted to short-term solutions like installing window units and closing her curtains because she said her apartment can reach upwards of 94 degrees.

”I also put this towel in the window to try and close the gap,” Hojnacki said.

This time she said apartment staff told her they won’t fix the AC because it’s only a matter of time before they begin renovating her apartment like others onsite.

”They said it’s irreparable and they’re not going to replace it because of the new renovations coming,” Hojnacki said.

But she said they didn’t give her a timeline of when work will even begin on her place.

”All renovations were supposed to be complete by this past June, so that would’ve been a year since construction all started,” Hojnacki said.

Gilbert Reyes Cruz has lived in his renovated apartment at the complex for four months. He said, despite multiple requests, it wasn’t until this past Friday that maintenance fixed the holes in his walls.

“All of the requests I did on the original walk-through is the same stuff I’ve done on the work order,” Reyes Cruz said.

For Hojnacki, who’s disabled, she said she needs a permanent fix now because it’s starting to affect her health.

”It’s causing me a lot of stress,” Hojnacki said. “I also have to use oxygen at night time. I couldn’t turn on my oxygen because it puts out so much heat.”

KWTX tried to reach someone at the leasing office onsite, however the office was closed on Saturday. The Montrose Place Apartments didn’t respond to requests for comment over the phone either.

Copyright 2023 KWTX. All rights reserved.