MISSOURI CITY, Texas – A woman visiting her mother at a Missouri City senior living facility says she was trapped on the fourth floor for nearly a week after the building’s only working elevator broke.
Tamika Harrison Parker, who uses a wheelchair due to her osteomyelitis diagnosis (bone infection), says she was stranded inside her mother’s unit at the Jubilee Senior Living facility on Texas Parkway beginning Monday. The elevator outage made it impossible for her to leave without risking injury.
“One day is unacceptable, you know, but within hours that elevator should have been working,” said Parker. “But then you have an elevator that hasn’t been working for a year. That’s unacceptable.”
After multiple days with no timeline for repairs and urgent responsibilities waiting for her at home, Parker says she had no choice but to make a difficult and dangerous decision: she strapped on orthopedic boots and slowly climbed down four flights of stairs, despite being bedridden for months.
“I was honestly hoping that they would say the elevators would be fixed,” she said. “Because my other option is I have to put my boots on and try, attempt to walk downstairs slowly without falling.”
An email from the leasing office shared with KPRC 2 said management was waiting on ‘critical parts’ to make the repairs.
“Please rest assured that we are doing everything possible to resolve this issue as quickly as we can. In addition to working closely with our current vendor, we have reached out to additional providers to try and expedite the delivery process,” the email said. “We truly regret the disruption this may be causing and greatly appreciate your continued patience and understanding.”
A proposed bill in Austin by Houston State Senator Carol Alvarado could prevent situations like this in the future.
Senate Bill 1802 would amend the state’s Property Code to explicitly require landlords to maintain mobility assistance devices, such as elevators, ramps, and handrails, in good working condition if they were part of the facility when the lease was signed. If these essential features go unrepaired, landlords could be held liable and, in cases like Parker’s, would be required to pay for comparable alternative housing until the issue is resolved or the lease ends.
The bill also strengthens tenant rights by allowing them to:
- Terminate their lease without penalty;
- Deduct repair costs from rent;
- Seek judicial remedies;
- And under this new proposal, receive no-cost relocation if essential mobility features fail.
The bill passed the Texas Senate and is in Houston.
As of now, Asset Living, the company managing the Jubilee complex, has not responded to KPRC 2’s repeated calls, emails, or in-person visit for comment.
Other residents have expressed concern as well.
“I’m ambulatory, and I can move around,” one tenant told KPRC 2’s Rilwan Balogun. “But everybody’s not that fortunate. People, I think, are stuck upstairs.”
Parker, visibly exhausted after making her descent, expressed her frustration with the entire ordeal. “No one handicapped, disabled, however you want to call it should have to deal with something like this,” she said. “It’s stressful.”
