AUSTIN, Texas — Tenants are dealing with more damages and disputes with management at an East Austin apartment complex.

Mount Carmel Village families went months without gas and then were displaced for another three months during repairs.

Now, renters say their apartments are still not fixed, administrative staff continue to be replaced and promises are being broken. This is all happening after they signed an agreement with the management company to improve conditions.

Spectrum News spoke with Esperanza Castillo as she was cleaning out her daughter's apartment.

“She just called me, mom, my roof fell down,” she said.

A leak in the ceiling caused water damage and mold, which has ruined some of her belongings.

Castillo was washing clothes and sorting through her granddaughter’s toys to decide which ones she can salvage.

“I was going through all her toys right now,” she said. “Because they really smelled.”

The mother says her daughter, Monica Gonzales, had a hole in her ceiling for about six months.

“They said well, we’ll get somebody to go fix it, and then they never came to fix it,” she said.

When Spectrum News arrived, there were two white patches on Gonzales’ popcorn ceiling. Castillo says that was done just two days ago.

“It was very hard for her. She went into depression, you know,” Castillo said.

Castillo says her daughter and her granddaughter got sick. She also says she is recovering from a cough, runny nose and sore throat.

In a written statement, tenant leader Taniquewa Brewswer says many families are still dealing with damages.

“While the gas issue is seemingly fixed in Mount Carmel Village, the remnant effects are still present. Tenants are still saying they smell gas, there are leaking roofs in a couple of buildings and maintenance is scarce. Mold, an issue affecting so many, is also ever present in several units. We lost power for an hour the other night and the situation was traumatizing. We have new property managers- that's a total of four this year and lots of promises of change. Progression is slow, but the fear is that if the property is not properly maintained, we will face a similar situation as we enter the winter months.”

We asked her how the management changes affect the tenants.

In a email response, Brewster says these turnovers are making the conditions worse.

“The biggest issue with staff change is tenant work orders get lost, files are not properly maintained and the blame is generally placed on previous staff. It becomes the burden of the tenant.”

We reached out to the property management company Eureka for comment.

A spokesperson emailed us this statement:

“The previous property manager was recently promoted. Eureka brought in another experienced management team member as replacement.  There are currently no outstanding repair requests, and the new leadership is currently auditing previous repair requests to confirm they were all completed.”

The nonprofit housing advocacy group BASTA worked with Mount Carmel and other tenants to fight for better living conditions following the storm.

At a press conference, we spoke to program director Shoshana Krieger about what the organization is dealing with eight months later.

“We’re still talking to tenants who are still struggling with storm damage, with mold, with receiving notices six months after the storm saying, oh now you need to move,” she said.

Many city leaders and departments got involved back in March after the gas outage displaced more than a hundred families for several months while crews repaired the gas lines.

Austin City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison was also involved with the negations between Eureka and tenants.

Mount Carmel is located in district one, which the Mayor Pro-Tem represents.

She was not available for an interview, but her office sent us this statement:

“My team and I have been keeping close tabs on the happenings at Mt. Carmel. Decades of disinvestment create problems that can’t be fixed overnight or even in a matter of months. Through organizing to advocate on their own behalf, the residents are doing their part, but they can’t do it all alone. Making sure they and others in similar communities have the dignity and comfort so many of us enjoy is a citywide concern that takes earnest effort from both the public and private sectors. I will continue to work to ensure that no one falls short of that.”

As for Castillo, her daughter is still waiting for maintenance to fix her air conditioning. She says it’s been out for about two weeks.

The property gave them a standing air conditioning unit which they put in one of the bedrooms. In the living room, they have one fan running to cool the rest of the apartment.

Castillo is sleeping on her daughter’s couch until things get better.

“I try my best to be there for her,” Castillo said.