Over time, the subtle odor became a strong stench, and Contreras began to feel nauseated. She struggled to focus on her work and worried for the well-being of her children.
Contreras has only lived in the Aberdeen @ Bellmar apartments for three months. After her last relationship went south, she and her 12-year-old daughter moved there. Pregnant, she works from home as a care coordinator for a medical equipment company.
By the morning of June 16, Contreras decided enough was enough. She reported the stench to the management office, explaining that pests had began gathering around the vents from which the odor came.
“I told them I thought something may have died in the vents,” Contreras said.
The odor was a deathly one, but it wasn’t from an animal in the vents. It was coming from the apartment directly above hers.
The next day, police set up a crime scene outside the building. What they found inside shocked Contreras and her neighbors.
Upstairs, a 55-year-old man had died in his apartment. The police report indicates his death is still unexplained. Exactly how long his body remained unattended in the apartment wasn’t noted. The autopsy is pending and the County Medical Examiner’s Office says it cannot release any further information until they identify next of kin.
More than a quarter of American households are occupied by a single person. This means more people are living alone than ever before. They’re also increasingly dying alone, and when they lack close connections or living next of kin, their bodies can go undiscovered for weeks.
Contreras believes the body was there for nearly two weeks, if not more. Based on the timeline of when she first noticed the smell, science suggests she’s likely correct.
Human bodies decompose rather quickly. Within four to 10 days, a body bloats from decomposition. Gas and liquids begin to leak and pests begin to lay their eggs. This is when things start to smell.
After 10 days, the body goes into active decay. Liquids pool under the body and the odor of decay grows stronger. The longer a body is left unattended, the more likely it will be accompanied by bacteria, mold and insect infestation, which in turn can cause damage to a building’s structure and the personal belongings of its inhabitants.
The body was removed on June 17, but the stench lingers in the apartment complex. Contreras and her neighbors fear bodily fluids may have leaked into the floor. Neighbors say the stench comes and goes in waves.
On Monday this week, the smell in her apartment was still overwhelming. She said the stench clings to her clothing. “When I went to my mother’s house, she said I smelled like death,” Contreras explained.
The man's death likely isn't property management's responsibility, but the cleanup certainly is. You'd imagine they'd move quickly when a pregnant, single mother fears for her health, but Contreras said the apartment management's response has been slow.
She's frustrated with how the management company, Knightvest Residential, has handled the situation. “They never told me or any of my neighbors that someone had died,” she explained.
Neighbors say they saw a cleaning service removing furniture from the apartment on June 17 and disinfecting some of the public areas in the days following, but no one has provided them with any information about what happened.
Knightvest was slow to act on Contreras’ requests to address the stench that had seeped into her apartment. She made two verbal requests on June 16 and 17 — they're documented in the company ticket system — but Contreras was told she needed to make a formal request via a signed letter, which she did the next day."I told them I thought something may have died in the vents." - Elza Contreras, apartment resident
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On the morning of June 21, Contreras still hadn’t heard back from management about resolving the smell, so she sent another letter. It was only when the Observer called Knightvest Residential and left a voicemail requesting comment that they got back to Contreras, telling her via text that they had placed an ozone generator to reduce the odor in her studio.
Knightvest Residential didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Contreras says the apartment management company only gave her an ozone generator to reduce the smell
Steven Monacelli
Contreras asked if she could be moved to a different unit, but a property representative told her there were no vacancies available, she said.
Instead, Contreras said they offered her a credit on her next month’s rent to cover the cost of a hotel. But that’s not an option for her. “I don’t have the money to pay out of pocket for that,” she said.
For the time being, she’s staying with a family friend. Frustrated and stressed, she doesn’t know when she’ll be able to return to her apartment and just wants a safe place for her daughter and her child on the way.
Under Texas law, landlords are required to make repairs needed to protect a tenant’s health, safety or security. If tenants follow the applicable laws when filing a complaint, and the landlord doesn’t fix the issue, then the tenant may be entitled to end the lease, having the cost of the remediation deducted from their rent, or even filing a lawsuit.
But tenants aren’t allowed to withhold rent even if the problem isn't fixed in a timely manner. For those with limited resources, like Contreras, finding free legal assistance can be a major hurdle. For her part, Contreras applied to a local legal aid nonprofit, but she was told she doesn’t qualify.
Left with little recourse, Contreras decided to speak out about the matter. “There would have been a different response from me if I had been treated with more respect,” she said.
Whether she ends up returning to her apartment or moving, Contreras hopes that they’ll find a way to get rid of the smell. “I’ve got elderly neighbors,” she added. “I want to make sure they’re taken care of too.”
