Millington Mayor a Slum Lord?

Renter faces eviction from Millington mayor's property

Photo credit / Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal

By Sherri Drake Silence
Memphis Commercial Appeal

A mayor and a mother are at odds over house mold.
Karen Wagner, 42, says her landlord, Millington Mayor Richard Hodges, has mostly ignored her pleas to rid her Millington home of black mold and water damage.

Karen Wagner sits outside the home she rents from Millington Mayor Richard Hodges, who is evicting her. "I don't want to lose my house," she said.
That's why she has withheld her $300 monthly rent the past few months, she said. She says she'll pay up when workers show up and properly repair her Saratoga Road home.

Now, she's facing eviction. The dispute is headed to court later this month.

"It's not that I can't pay him the rent," said Wagner, who has rented the home since 1997. "I just want him to come talk to me. ... All I wanted was the house fixed up. You make it safe, I'll make it a home."

But Hodges said he has done $18,000 worth of repairs to the 1950s home since buying it a few years ago. He has renovated more than 20 houses in the area since 2001.

The problem, Hodges said, is that Wagner won't vacate the house long enough for his crew to do a total renovation. He has asked her to stay with her mom while they work.

Instead, his workers do what they can with Wagner in the home, where she often keeps many dogs.

Repairmen have replaced siding, windows and sheet rock, added a wall around the bathroom shower and installed new heating and air conditioning units in the 897-square-foot house, Hodges said. They ripped up the carpet, soiled by Wagner's dogs, and replaced it with tile.

The mayor said he and his brother have allowed Wagner to continue paying $300 a month, even though all their other similar rental homes are between $575 and $650.

"No matter what we do, nothing is going to make her happy," Hodges said.

Wagner, who was diagnosed with lymphoma and has been in remission for nearly a year, lives in the home with her 11-year-old daughter, Kaydee Kelly. She worked at fast food restaurants for many years, but is currently on disability.

She plans to fight the eviction at a court hearing Aug. 17 in Memphis.

Wagner said the mayor's repairmen aren't reliable and have done shoddy work. On Tuesday, unidentified black mold was visible on baseboards and water stains spotted the walls. And Wagner said there's asbestos siding that still needs to be covered.

Wagner said she and her parents have spent a lot of money and time doing their own repairs.

"There's something that has to be done," said Wagner, who said she can't afford to live anywhere else and hasn't been able to get approved for government-funded housing. "I don't want to lose my house."

Hodges said Wagner could reapply to live in the house after she's evicted and he's able to renovate the home.

"I need to go through that house and I need to check it and I can't do it with her in it," the mayor said.