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Evictions dismissed; tenants say maintenance issues go unaddressed in Baton Rouge apartments

2 years 3 months 3 weeks ago Thursday, August 04 2022 Aug 4, 2022 August 04, 2022 8:33 PM August 04, 2022 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - A landlord in Tigerland got heated in front of a WBRZ camera Thursday. It happened after a Justice of the Peace dismissed his eviction cases.

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It's not the first time 2 On Your Side has met with unhappy tenants at Tiger Park. One of those tenants says she and her two young children are living in rough, moldy conditions that aren't being addressed. Dynasty Materre says she withheld her July and August rent because her work orders were piling up.

She says it all started with an air conditioner leak in the attic. It caused water to drip from the ceiling, paint to peel and her living room ceiling to fall, exposing rafters and pipes above. Meterre also says her front door is jammed.

"I have to use a knife to get in and out when I leave I cannot lock the door," she said.

Materre says her Tiger Park unit wasn't like that when she moved in a year ago.

"Mold has formed in so many places in the house," she said.

She says that maintenance requests have gone unaddressed, and other patch jobs haven't worked. Materre shared a video of how mold was covered with paint primer in her bathroom. On Thursday, her landlord Dr. Barry Wang tried to get her evicted. Wang denied involvement with Tiger Park when he first arrived at the Siegen Lane office building.

In 2019, 2 On Your Side met Wang at Tiger Park for a similar situation. A tenant complained of poor living conditions and maintenance issues that hadn't been addressed. Wang admitted repairs were needed, but soon after got angry and asked the camera crew to leave. The police were called.

Thursday, multiple Tiger Park tenant eviction cases were dismissed, including Materre's.

"The case was dismissed because I showed the judge all the photos," she said.

Following the hearings, 2 On Your Side asked Wang why he was trying to evict the tenants. He said it was mostly for rent, then called Brittany Weiss a liar.

Materre says she is happy to leave her moldy unit and is staying with a family member until she finds a new one.

Thursday afternoon, Wang called 2 On Your Side and said Materre's issues happened just last week. He also said the mold on her ceilings isn't mold but "water muck," and the issues are being addressed.

Materre maintains that these issues have been going on for a long time.

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