For embattled Vietnam Era Veteran helicopter pilot Larry Bates, it has been a trying seven-month ordeal that at times has been overwhelming, but the man has soldiered on despite being threatened with eviction from his apartment provider in Montgomery. Accompanied by his Vietnam War Veteran older brother, a cadre of Veteran supporters, along with his pro-bono council John Paul Hopkins, of the Hopkins Law Firm in Conroe; they all packed in the Courtroom of Judge Scharlene W. Valdez, of the County Court at Law #6 on the afternoon of August 13th, at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Conroe. The plaintiff in the case, NH Heritage LP, aka Heritage Seniors, owned by Blazer Real Estate Services, LLC in Houston, was represented by Hoover-Slovacek for the trial, Ms Brianna Lans, lead counsel, accompanied by her co-counsel Mr Daniel Edmunds, argued on behalf of NH Heritage.
Each party chose to issue opening statements, with Lans, arguing the non-payment of rent as the main issue based on the inability to pay the full amount of rent on the ledgers, including a dishwasher charge and roach infestation fee, totalling approximately $475.00 dollars. When Bates went to pay his February rent on January 10th, 2025, his check was returned, being told he was being charged damages for dishwasher replacement, but he did not receive a Statement of Account until January 22nd, in the amount of $888.00, including the February rent. Bates thought the fee unfair and refused to pay, which for a senior who relies on Social Security, can be an unnerving expense.
The defendant, on January 29th, was issued by apartment manager Rosie Perez a document from her office: ‘Notice to Vacate for Non-Delinquency Breach of Lease or Unauthorized Holdover for TDHCA-Regulated Affordable Housing,’ Re: Notice to vacate for non-rent breach of lease TAA Lease between the resident names above and NH Heritage LP. The document states that the lease was violated on multiple occasions for infestation from October 14th to January 23rd, 2025, due to “The condition of the apartment is now deemed unsanitary, creating a health and safety risk.” The document was signed by Ms Perez. Bates was recovering from heart surgery on 10/14, but was back in residence by the 11/15 and subsequent inspections, and has said he would have been able to make corrections for the other dates noted.
Bates speculates that the $475.00 dollar dishwasher fee stems from his monthly rent, which is lower than surrounding apartments, being set in 2019 when he initially assumed residence. In the ensuing years, the rents have gone up, but his lease amount remains the same, which places pressure on landlords to probe for weaknesses in lease agreement with tenants. Bates says that when he was forced to the hospital for heart surgery, his residence remained unguarded leaving an opening for a pressure point to be applied.
When friends of Bates called several Veterans organizations for help, they took video of his apartment, and could not demonstrate any evidence of the plaintiffs claim of infestation. In Texas, landlords are generally responsible for repairing appliances like dishwashers, especially if they were included in the rental agreement at the start of the lease, but the word ‘dishwasher’ is not located in the document, although ‘kitchen appliances,’ are mentioned in move-out procedures. Mr Bates was one of the first occupants when the building first opened in 2019, and with general wear and tear on a nearly six year-old dishwasher, an outage years later is expected. Bates noted the broken appliance to NH Heritage and apartment manager Rosie Perez prior to his entering the VA Hospital for his heart surgery on October 9th, 2024. He was discharged from the hospital on October 26th. Lans told Judge Valdez that NH Heritage was seeking possession of the unit, all rents due, and attorney’s fees.
Hopkins countered his opening with Heritage’s changing nature of their argument with the use of the dishwasher fee as a weapon, which was later dropped by Blazer in March 2025, and totalled more than his monthly portion of $333.00 dollars, while Heritage was all the time accepting the Housing and Urban Development’s Veterans Administration Supportive Houston, or HUD-VASH portion of $655.00 the rent, that was paid through the Montgomery County Housing Authority. It was noted that from infestation to lack of rent payments the peculiar nature of a dishwasher fee, placed at a time when a Veteran was at his weakest in recovering from heart surgery.
Heritage’s first witness was not Heritage Seniors apartment manager Rosie Perez, who was conveniently on vacation, but Diane Capistran, the Regional Property Manager for Blazer Real Estate Services, whose office oversees 14 of the 28 properties in the region. She methodically answered questions from plaintiffs and defense counsel for nearly two hours, and admittedly was no stranger to the witness stand. Capistran’s answers to questions such as the company’s policy to not accept partial payments seemed cruel for those unfamiliar, but in Texas, landlords are not required to abide by what in many minds eye would be the compassionate thing to do. Capistran argued that the $475.00 dollar dishwasher replacement and infestation fee, issues that occurred when Larry Bates was in the hospital, was a normal charge. She noted that when she dropped the fee in March, that Bates only had to pay February and March rents of $666.00, but the late fees were never dropped from the apartments payment portal, which had been ordered by Judge Matt Masden, Justice of the Peace, Precinct Five, back in June. Hopkins had multiple witnesses lined up to counter the claim by Capistran.
As Judge Valdez looked at the clock closing in on 5pm, she scheduled the session to continue at 1:30pm on June 14th, but encouraged both counsels to talk to each other before the next day.
“Where is the rent money now,” said Valdez, asking Hopkins as the session ended.
“It’s in our Trust Accounts,” replied the lawyer.
Law offices maintain an Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account, or IOLTA, where client funds are pooled and held in trust. Mr Bates’ accumulated rental funds will be returned to him, along with donations received for his defense.
Discussions did take place following court and on the morning before the session, when an out-of-court settlement had taken place.
“We can’t force Heritage Seniors to renew Mr Bates lease,” said Dr. Wendi Hunter, a spokeswoman for the Hopkins Law Firm, who said Bates will have to vacate at the end of his lease in November.. “And considering the circumstances, it was the best they could do.”
Hunter went on to say the Hopkins Law office will get together with the Montgomery County Housing Authority to see about finding a new apartment for Bates. A final settlement in the case was not decided at the deadline of this story.
“I want to thank Hopkins and the Veterans who supported me,” said Larry Bates. “I hope that my case brings attention to senior tenants who don’t get the attention that I did, who can be preyed upon by apartment managers.”