Heide & Maurice Levy highland park watch and jewelry exchange Fraud Scam Nightmare landlords Neiman Marcus Criminal Convicted Felon Dallas Texas

These people deserve to be on John Stossel's next Prime Time Show about Landlord NIGHTMARES. Heide Levy is a convicted Felon for ripping off Neiman-Marcus merchandise that may be the most sensational department store heist in Dallas history. Article enclosed (dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/1985/december/whos-ripping-off-the-store).

When we first moved in, we were not given any walk-through by the landlord and/or given a move-in inspection check list. I assume this is because Heide said she “has not been inside the property in over 4 years”. This was a big red flag – did they did not inspect or do a proper walk through after the previous tenant moved out & before leasing to us? Under Texas law, by renting you the property, the landlord guarantees that the unit will be a fit place to live. We painted the entire kitchen from ceiling to floor, primed & glossed the kitchen & 2 bathroom floors and completely re-wired all of the electrical in the kitchen & main hallway. The electrician said the wiring was very unsafe & he was surprised that it had not caused a fire yet. There were NO installed fire/smoke detectors in the home; we purchased and installed fire alarms when we noticed this immediately. We replaced the front door, kitchen, hallway & back room lighting fixtures as well and checked the electric wiring which is very old & damaged. Several of the electricity sockets in the home do not work & have burned-like marks and signs of heat damage around the socket covers. The master bedroom has a leak in the ceiling & appears it’s been there for awhile. The foundation shows it has severely shifted and there are cracks in the walls & ceiling in every room all throughout the house. There is a major rodent problem (water bugs, rats, cockroaches, gnats, termites) and there is no record of any extermination has been done. Ever. Small gnats come up from the shower drain in the master bathroom & there is a constant pungent sewer smell in the master bath, hallway and master bedroom since we moved in. We immediately informed the Levy’s of all of these mentioned issues but they have done nothing to try to fix these problems. They told us to pour Draino & vinegar down the drains and it will fix the smell & plumbing problems. We had purchased every type of drain & acid product we found & none helped with the smell or water back up at all. This is a common occurrence throughout our tenancy that we experienced for the landlord to decide to impose their own terms & new understandings to what we owed, how much and what we were solely responsible for rather than honor their responsibilities under the current lease agreement that we both originally signed. 

Our insistence of the landlord to make needed, major repairs, we were threatened, harassed, withheld service & retaliated against us and ultimately evicted with no notice. We left the property cleaner than it was when we moved in. As of today, we have not received our security deposit and/or pro-rated rent. The uninhabitable conditions & nuisance had materially affected our health & safety and quiet enjoyment since we moved in. We made the following oral & written complaints to the landlord before we were evicted

1. Sewer Smell – There has been a strong sewer smell since we moved in that the Levy’s were immediately informed of and have not attempted to inspect & repair the plumbing.
2. Plumbing/Sewage Problems in Master Bathroom: Shower has been stopped up since September 1^st of move in. The toilet was also backed up and still overflows frequently. Sewage constantly overflows from the shower & toilet. We informed the landlord immediately on Sept 1^st & they haven’t done anything to try to inspect & NO repairs have still been done.
3. Gas Leak – We discovered a gas leak on March 28^th. Atmos turned off gas until the landlord made the needed pipe repairs. We did not have hot water or heat for 6 days
4. Water Leaks – We contacted University Park Utilities to check for water leaks after noticing the pool was low and losing about 3 inches in a matter of a few days. Elizabeth with the City confirmed the water leaks and also the mosquito problem. (included work order from the City). Ceiling in Master bedroom has been leaking since move-in (included video).
5. Rodent problems – Since move in we have had water bugs in the living room, coming out of the ceiling cracks, gnats coming up from the master bathroom faucet & shower drain. Water bugs are coming out of pipes & the bottom of the walls in laundry room – it’s infested with them. Rats running along the fence post & go under the house – these are not the little cute little mice, they are BIG rats. Alex had mistaken a rat one night for our dog, Gus. Mosquitos have been awful all year long.
6. Electrical wiring: Exposed, Burnt & faulty wiring. Electric sockets showing signs of heat & damage from sparks. No installed smoke detectors anywhere in house when we moved in.
7. Boiler – The Levy’s did not tell us the property required Gas. We were only budgeted for electricity. Due to the existing gas leak we were unaware of from Sept 1^st – April 2^nd. Our gas bill was an average of $200 a month which caused unplanned financial burdens because of their negligence in informing us before we signed the lease and moved in.
8. Stove: Not working condition. None of the burners worked.

THE FINAL STRAW.......

GAS LEAK –

We discovered a major gas leak on March 27^th when an Atmos technician came to test the gas lines after I contacted Atmos concerned about our uncommonly high monthly bill. Every month it was even higher than the prior & had been over $200 every month since our first month’s bill.  The duplex only uses Gas for hot water & heat. Roger Levy told me gas is only $10- $20/month. Very different numbers. The Atmos technician tested the lines and it failed the pressure test & confirmed there was a gas leak. He said he had to turn it off and I needed to call the homeowner to have a plumber come do the needed pipe repairs before Atmos could turn the gas back on because it was dangerous. We were without hot water & heat 6 days because of the gas leak, from March 27^th until April 1^st.