In a recent column I commented on a KVBC report by Mitch Truswell entitled “Who's responsible for Las Vegas's worst slums?” At the time I restricted my commentary on the column to an “Attaboy” for a very strong piece.

Given that my family is leaving Las Vegas in the next 30 days, I think I can now tell, as Mr. Harvey says, “The Rest of the Story”....

My family moved into this complex in 2001 shortly after the birth of Bubba Brown. We did so because of the owner, who lived on property and seriously worked on making this a family property. To quote my wife, he “had done so much to improve and make this place a really wonderful place to call "home". He had kicked out all the pimps, prostitutes, dealers, junkies and gang-bangers that had made it a horror to live in.”

Someone came to him in 2004 with an offer he couldn't refuse. The Asian family, operating under the business name “CCC&R Holdings LLC”, has never, to our knowledge, ever set foot on the property.

Here's what she wrote in a posted review on apartmentreviews.net:

They took out the playground equipment and put up signs that said no bikes, rollerskates, in-line skates or skateboards were allowed when this is a family heavy complex. The grass was removed and cheap gravel put in instead.(Wyatt's note: It was an attempt to qualify for a xeriscape credit from the Southern Nevada Water Authority, but poorly done!) Constant flooding has attracted mold and bugs and caused constant infestation for both. Things break and do not get fixed, unless you threaten legal action and then it is fixed as cheaply as possible and then they act all surprised when it is broken again in no time. We have two swimming pools, but they aren't allowed to be open because the new owners won't put out the money to properly care for them. Neither of our laundry rooms are open and they won't give a reason why, just have them locked up tightly. Twice in the last 90 days the sewage system has, literally, exploded and the first time it was left to sit for several days before the health department was called. They were warned to replace the pipes, which are too small and cheaply made, or else they would be shut down because it is a health hazard! It exploded, for the second time, yesterday and the health department is threatening to shut this complex down...permanently! Our complex has been featured twice on the local news, once for health department violations for swimming pools (KLAS-8 7/5/08) and as an expose on slum lords (KVBC-3 5/12/08)! The only good manager we have had, since these owners took over, and they fired her because the news asked her about an apartment that burnt but had people still living in the apartment below...with small children. She told them she couldn't talk to them but told them to call the owners...they fired her for that and that is shady!

That's right. The best manager that was trying to keep the peace and make a difference gets fired for the bad business practices of the owners.

But wait, it gets worse.

Not a week goes by without Metro being on the property at least three days during the week. To say that the new owners haven't followed the standards set by the previous owner would be laughably minor. The mix of formerly middle-class families has been replaced by mostly minority and lower income individuals, many of which are of questionable legal status.

Prior to the writing of this column, our family has been harassed and threatened on numerous occasions by certain individuals in the complex who take a great deal of pleasure in annoying Caucasian persons. Honestly, if our move to Northern Nevada hadn't been put off until the end of school, we would have moved out of here months ago.

CCC&R Holdings thought they were getting a bargain when they dropped $8.65 million dollars on this property in 2004. They weren't counting on what still needed to be done to Charleston Pines. The massive sewer and water problems are rumored to have culminated in a September 1 deadline from the Health Department to cure the sewer problems or else. Now, unless they make major property improvements in the next few weeks, they may lose the only thing that keeps their property afloat: their tenants.

I sincerely hope that the health department hands Richard Hu and his family their ass in a sling and shows them what happens to slumlords in Las Vegas.

Hanging would be too good for him. He should be forced to live here. Funny how in the good apartment complexes, the owners many times do live there.

A note in the Ely Times about shortages at their local food bank prompted me to write this note.

We're all having problems making our paychecks go far enough these days. Think about those people who have been just scraping by but are having to make do with less because of higher prices or, worse, have been laid off by the slump in the gaming industry.

I've sent an extra $20 this week to the Salvation Army and Catholic Charitiesfor assistance. If you could do the same, or send money to others such as Deseret Industries, the Community Food Bank, or other organizations, they sure could use it about now.

We sure could use a little good Karma these days!

Wyatt Cox believes that Karma can come back to bite you in the ass unless you do the right thing. The right thing is to check out rant.wyattcox.net and find links to accompany the story!