MISSOURI CITY, Texas – For more than three weeks, seniors at the Jubilee at Texas Parkway senior living complex have been without a working elevator and now, city leaders are stepping demanding accountability.
The elevator outage began earlier this month, and while the property management company initially claimed the issue would be resolved within days, residents were recently informed the repairs would be further delayed.
An email sent to tenants stated that although the correct elevator parts were ordered, a crucial cable was missing. As a result, residents are now being told repairs may take another five days, at minimum.
Carolyn Harrison, a longtime resident of the complex, has grown frustrated by the situation. Like many others, she’s been forced to use the stairs daily, which is taking a physical toll.
“Going down is okay, but coming up, I tell you, it’s horrible,” Harrison said. “These knees were fine. Now they’re starting to hurt.”
The challenges are even more dire for others.
Betty Benford, another tenant, has had to cancel three VA medical appointments for her husband, who has both mental and physical health conditions.
“I got an appointment coming up next week, and if I can’t get him downstairs that’s another canceled appointment,” Benford said. “I fear for my husband’s life.”
Missouri City’s code enforcement cited the complex for not having any working elevators, “this is in violation of Texas Elevator Safety Standards outlined by TDLR Chapter 754 of the Health Safety Code,” the notice reads. “At least 1 elevator should be working at all times.”
The citation goes on to say if the matter isn’t corrected in 10 days, the complex would be charged in municipal court and/or city abating.
Missouri City Council Member Jeffrey Boney visited the complex Wednesday, where he heard directly from frustrated residents. Boney said he’s reached out to state representatives and senators hoping to escalate resident concerns. He shared with KPRC 2 he’s also called the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
“We’ve been trying to figure out ways to strongly encourage the owners and the property management company, Asset Living, to do the right thing,” said Boney.
Boney added that both he and the city have made multiple attempts to contact Asset Living but have received little to no response.
“If they disrespect council members and elected officials like this, we see what they’re doing to these residents,” he said.
KPRC 2’s Rilwan Balogun reached out to a local elevator expert to better understand what might cause such a prolonged outage.
“You need to be looking at [elevators] like a car,” said Efrain Cayama of Home Elevator of Houston. “If you’re putting a lot of miles into it, you better be keeping up with maintenance to make sure it keeps working.”
Cayama said companies can order parts anywhere in the company. But since he doesn’t know the specific part, he couldn’t comment further.
“This is not like a car that technology’s constantly evolving,” he said. “This is very standard. A lot of elevators are working very similarly to elevators [of] 30 years ago.”
Balogun asked a spokesperson for Asset Living the part they ordered. The spokesperson didn’t comment on it but said, they “are currently waiting on an additional cable that is needed. The cable was ordered, and we should be receiving the tracking number today. During this time, we are continuing to do whatever it takes to support our residents’ needs.”
As of now, residents remain without a clear solution or a clear timeline. Many are losing patience and trust.
“It’s just getting out of hand,” Harrison said. “Somebody needs to take care of the situation.”
She added that communication from the property has been vague and inconsistent.
“They go into the office, close the door, and say ‘we’re working on it.’ That UPS delivers quicker than five to ten days, I’m sorry.”
