Tenants of a South Austin rental building say their new landlord has raised rents by hundreds of dollars but is not addressing hazardous conditions.
Last Thursday, renters rallied outside the three-story, block-long apartment complex at 5334-5362 W. Madison St., calling on manager WPD Management to halt rent increases and eviction filings and to make necessary repairs to their apartments.
The company has notified tenants or rent increases between $300 and $800 for some apartments, tenants said. The company has also filed a dozen eviction cases against renters, according to the Metropolitan Tenants Organization.
A couple of months after WPD Management took over the building in late May, the company raised Hector Rivera was notified that the company would raise his rent by $400. The tattoo artist, who has lived in the building for four years, took on extra work hours to save up for the increase.
But during the past six months, the management hasn’t responded to complaints about a severe roach infestation that affects his unit, he said. He shared videos with reporters showing dozens of roaches visible across his kitchen. He sets out roach traps daily, but they fill quickly, he said.
The infestation has drastically affected his quality of life. Rivera said he’s frustrated with WPD’s response.
“You want my rent, but you can’t make repairs?” he asked. “I can’t cook on my stove. I can’t store food in my broken cabinets, that are infested by roaches, I can’t store food in my refrigerator … I don’t want to eat in my own house.”
Other tenants have been unable to get the company to remediate mold, or make repairs to serious conditions issues such as lack of heat, leaks and holes in walls and floors, according to the Metropolitan Tenants Organization.
“No one should ever be forced to exist in dangerous and unlivable conditions,” said Ald. Emma Mitts of the 37th Ward, whose ward encompasses the building and who was present at the press conference.
Mitts called the current ownership “unresponsive” and “neglectful” and said that she had asked the city’s Department of Buildings to expedite inspections of the property out of concern for tenants’ safety.
City inspectors have failed the 5334-5362 W. Madison St. building complex at least 18 times over the past 10 years.
The previous owners received building code violations over washed-out mortar on the exterior walls, buckling walkways and “dangerous and hazardous” rear porches on the complex, which stretches a full block between North Lorel and Long Avenues. In most inspection records available online, inspectors wrote that they could not gain access to apartments.
All failed inspections appear to have occurred under previous ownership.
A holding company that shares a business address with WPD Management bought the building on May 31, 2024 for $3.7 million, according to public records.
That purchase was part of a bundled sale of five multifamily rental buildings in Austin and Garfield, public records show. The buildings sold for $12.7 million altogether.
The New York-based company that previously owned these properties was in financial distress, records suggest. That company’s holding companies were delinquent in property tax payments and earlier this year went into default on a $14.7 million multifamily loan taken out against the five properties.
That owner listed its headquarters as a small storefront in Munsey, NY, the listed offices of real estate investment firm Rhodium Capital Advisors.
Earlier this year, managing members of that company pleaded guilty to federal charges of mortgage fraud involving multifamily buildings in other states.
The WPD-affiliated holding companies agreed to take over the mortgage from the troubled seller and get current on delinquent taxes on all five buildings.
Reached by phone, WPD cofounder Kevin Nugent declined to comment.
At a press conference on October 31, 2024, tenants of 5362 W. Madison St. rallied against new property manager WPD Management. Since the company took over the complex in late May, tenants said they’ve experienced infestations, leaks and no heat, as well as exorbitant rent increases and eviction notices. Credit: Yesenia Esteban/Metropolitan Tenants Organization 
Tenant-provided photos of leaks, mold, water-logged ceilings, and chipping paint in different apartments at 5362 W. Madison St. Credit: Provided 
Tenant-provided photos of leaks, mold, water-logged ceilings, and chipping paint in different apartments at 5362 W. Madison St. Credit: Provided
Tenants acknowledged that the building has had conditions problems for years. However, they said that responsiveness from management declined significantly after WPD took over.
“We have to be out here like this trying to gather and find out how we’re going to get some help,” said Cheryl Brown, a tenant who has lived in the building for three years and who said she has been unable to get a response from WPD about holes that have developed under the carpet in the floors of her apartment.
WPD, a Chicago-based company, has expanded its presence from the South Side to the West Side in recent years. “Our hands-on, comprehensive approach to property management sets us apart,” Director of Business Development Dan Nagle told Multifamily Press in 2021, after the company added 200 West Side units to its management portfolio.
“We are excited to deepen our relationship with west side communities and provide support to residents and owners in this area of the city.”
One of the group’s demands is for WPD to sit down with tenants to discuss necessary repairs across the building.
Rivera and others said they don’t want to move from the building if they can help it.
“When you get decent people around, you want to hang onto that,” Rivera said of his neighbors. “How beautiful is that?”