Construction Maison

WINSTON-SALEM- The city of Winston-Salem says it's stepping in to deal with problems at the Rolling Hills apartment complex . City officials say they're going to start assessing heavy fines over problems like leaky toilets and other issues at the apartments off Martin Luther King drive . For years the units at Rolling Hills apartments have gone through inspections and Winston- Salem city leader say for years a majority of them failed. City Councilman Derwin Montgomery said the city had been fair to ownership. "They're the worst I've seen in Rolling Hills over the time I've been on council and seen some of the issues we've had there,” said Montgomery. On Thursday, they made it clear they won't stand for negligent property managers after 110 units went through inspections, yet again. "Out of those, more than 90 of those units found violations of minimum housing code . Orders have been sent out to the owners to repair those units,” said Montgom...

Jennifer Johnson was freezing cold and so was her 5-month-old baby. It was January, and the heat in her apartment wouldn 't go above 60. When the wind blew outside, her drapes fluttered inside . She called the maintenance department at Lakecrest Park Apartments in Roosevelt Park . The man who answered was rude, then crude, then hung up on her. Desperate and shivering, Johnson called the police. The result? Inspectors were called who issued citations, city leaders changed the ordinance to allow stricter enforcement of building codes and the apartment complex's East Coast owners became "cooperative" with city officials . And what about the apartment's management and maintenance department she dealt with? All fired. It's unusual for officials of any city to move so quickly to step into a tenant-landlord dispute. But with only a few large apartment complexes in the one-square-mile city, inspectors and leaders decided change was needed fast. A lease nightmar...