Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin announced legal action against a Meyerland apartment complex during a press conference Oct. 27.
The big picture
The complex, The Life at Jackson Square Apartments, is the subject of a joint lawsuit between the county, the city of Houston and the State of Texas. The lawsuit alleges the complex’s owners and operators have allowed it to become a “common nuisance,” with crime and disrepair creating an unsafe residence.
The lawsuit states the 39-acre complex has more than 150 buildings with more than 1,300 units. It sits along Brays Bayou in Meyerland.
During the press conference, Kamin said residents have gone without running hot water during freezes. As of last week, she said the complex had more fires, “adding to the far too long list of dangerous issues that this community has been dealing with.” A responding firefighter was hospitalized, she said.
“This is not a single building with a few bad apartments,” Kamin said. “This is an entire community that has been subjected to this, and it has been allowed by the property owners and management to fall apart.”
The lawsuit alleges the complex has become a nuisance “because of its owners’ and operators’ intentional neglect.”
The alleged neglect of the property and residents includes:
Inadequate exterior lighting
Infrequent to no security officers
Most or all vehicle gates being inoperable and kept open
Multiple abandoned and unsecured apartments
Pedestrian gates kept unlocked
Zooming in
The city of Houston initially filed the lawsuit in April 2025. Despite the county joining as a plaintiff, Kamin said the legal process could take more than a year.
“It is taking too long, and someone is going to die if this is not handled with expediency and rigor,” Kamin said.
Houston previously sued based on “frequent on-premises criminal activity,” according to the suit.
From May 2023 through Sept. 1, 2026, the lawsuit discloses 16 instances of the Houston Police Department responding to and documenting criminal activity at the complex. These include reports of gunshots, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, discharging firearms on the property and possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver.
The lawsuit has been brought against:
Pecos Housing Funding Corp.
PHFC Jackson Square MM, LLC
5410 N. Braeswood Blvd. Houston LLC
The complex’s land
Four businesses, including their agents, operate, control and manage the complex, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit outlines that Pecos owns the land and directly controls its subsidiary, Jackson Managing Member. Braeswood owned the land before transferring it to Pecos and currently operates the buildings, according to the lawsuit. Olive Tree Holdings also maintains the premises, the lawsuit states.
Kamin said the lawsuit applies to “a tangle of multiple businesses behind this property.”
“The effect is that owners are shirking their responsibility, and again, the people left to deal with the consequences are residents,” she said.
One more thing
To report issues at the complex or other properties throughout the county, residents are encouraged to visit cao.harriscountytx.gov and file a complaint under the “stay scam free” tab.
Chris Garza, division director at the County Attorney’s Office, said the office is looking specifically to collect agreements or promises property owners or managers made to residents. These can include leases and special agreements, he said.
To be successful, Kamin said the city and county need complaints from tenants because the two municipalities have limited rights to go onto private property.
“We are in this fight for the long haul, but my hope is we are taking an aggressive step through the County Attorney’s Office to put the pressure on and say, ‘We are not going to stand for this,’” Kamin said.
Something to note
Community Impact reached out to property owners and will update this story if a response is given.
