Corpus Christi woman faces rodent issue at Bella Vista Apartments

A woman living at Bella Vista Apartment said she's been dealing with a severe rodent issue for months.

Regina Gonzales has lived at the apartment complex located at 1010 Behmann Street for about two years. She said she’s been dealing with a rodent problem since January.

“I’ve caught at least 10 in just three weeks," Gonzales said. "I just want them out of here."

Gonzales said she notified the leasing office about the issue and they told her they would take care of it. However, Gonzales said she hasn't seen progress and even caught a rat in her kitchen Wednesday evening. She sent several photos to our KRIS 6 newsroom, showing at least seven rats inside her home. Gonzales said the photos were from the last couple of months.

Other residents living at the complex also agreed with the rodent concerns.

“We hear them in the walls, we hear them in the ceiling," resident, Sheila McDaniel said." That’s something that they need to get on top of, just for the sake of it being the right thing to do.”

However, one of the property owners, Tracey Mahoey said he and his team were made aware of the issue and immediately began addressing it.

“We were notified on February 22 of a rodent problem in unit #4, unit #5, and unit #6. February 29, we had our pest control company, the one that works for all of our apartment complexes in Texas, specifically deal with the rats.”

Mahoney mentioned that a pest control specialist added rodent bait stations around the property. However, he believes the living conditions of the resident has made the issue even worse.

“We want to give people a nice, safe environment to live in," Mahoney said. "Sometimes we do fail at that. Sometimes we do make mistakes. This time we’ve done nothing wrong. The hoard of nastiness and the smell on that countertop. It was horrible, I can’t believe anybody lives that way.”

City of Corpus Christi's Code Compliance visited the property Wednesday and said they found several property violations, including the rat problem. To help residents with any issues, the Assistant Director of Development Services/Code Compliance, Tracey Cantu, encouraged people to call 311 and make a report if the concerns persist.

“We recommend to use 311, either calling on the telephone to report that," Cantu said. "You can also use the online portal, which is through the city’s website, the 311 self service online portal. All of that creates a record.”

In addition, Nueces County Judge Henry Santana said the Texas state law requires tenats to always alert the property manager of their concerns. For those who are also wondering if they should stop paying rent until the problem is fixed, Judge Santana encourages tenants not to do that.

"They need to pay their rent," Santana said. "If you’re not current on the rent, they do have the right to evict you.”

Code Compliance has given the property at least seven business days to fix the violations they previously found. After that, someone from their team will come back and assess the property.

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