Montgomery Vietnam Era Veteran Threatened with Eviction Without Evidence

MONTGOMERY, TX -- A local Vietnam Era Veteran Helicopter Pilot who resides in Montgomery, has been threatened with eviction by a local apartment manager, Rosie Perez, based on infestation. The apartments on Flagship Boulevard in Montgomery, are located behind The Montgomery Trace Shopping Center. The Veteran, Larry Bates, who has resided at The Heritage Seniors for over five years, has a good history as a tenant, pays his rent on time, passes his apartment inspections, and maintains a great relationship with his fellow tenants. Bates, a low-key Veteran, refused to defend himself against the apartment manager's initial eviction notice of February 28th, and then the latest date of March 7th. According to officials from Justice of the Peace, Pct.5, Judge Matt Masden, his office has received no request from The Heritage Seniors in reference to evicting Mr Bates; and they are well aware of the situation between the two parties. The Veterans predicament concerned his friends and fellow tenants of Mr Bates, who on February 26th contacted several Veterans organizations to help. Veterans and Patriots United (VPU), located in Huntsville, and VFW 12223 Service Officer Harvey Yaw, located in Montgomery, responded to the call and looked into the situation.

VPU founder Amos Savell, founded his organization after his military and Department of Defense security service time, and channels his efforts to reducing PTSD related Veteran homelessness, alcohol, drug abuse, or just helping Veterans in need in Walker and surrounding counties. Savell’s organization assists Vets to recover by receiving housing, medical and mental health services, beneficial training, employment opportunities, and an eventual return to a normal life. Yaw’s role with the Montgomery Veterans group as Service Officer, puts him in touch with many Veterans, whether associated with the VFW or not, and on numerous occasions has dropped what he was doing to assist a Veteran in need. Both Savell and Yaw combined forces and attended to Mr Bates within several hours of being notified of his predicament on February 26th. A quick inspection of the apartment by Savell and Yaw, in which several videos and pictures were taken, showed no signs of rat or roach infestation, nor any tell-tale signs of any pestilence. At the time of the video obtained by MCN, Mr Bates was in the midst of packing for the eviction.

“His apartment is well maintained, which completely goes against the documentation presented by Rosie Perez,” said Savell. “I’ve spoken with his friends and they all say Mr Bates' apartment is always clean.”

MCN was able to interview the Veteran the next day, and he displayed a document presented by Ms Perez’s 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, of which the parent company, Blazer Real Estate Services, LLC, a property management company in Houston. The document states that the lease was violated on multiple occasions from October 14th to January 23rd, 2025, and “The condition of the apartment is now deemed unsanitary, creating a health and safety risk.” The document was signed by Ms Perez on January 29th. In a subsequent document also obtained by MCN, dated 1/22/2025, Mr Bates was charged by Mr Perez’s office in addition to his rent, a ‘dishwasher replacement fee’ of $475.22, which included an $80.00 for ‘roach cleanout.’ As of printing, the dishwasher has still not been replaced. Mr Bates was in the Veterans Medical Center in Houston recovering from open heart surgery while the dishwasher repair attempt was made. In the video obtained by MCN, the area where the appliance was located and now removed, showed no signs of roach activity or build-up of any kind.

“There is something fishy going on here,” said VFW Service Officer Harvey Yaw. “You just don’t go around kicking out helpless Veterans because management wants a higher rent coming from the apartment.”

In a Freedom of Information Act request submitted to the Montgomery County Housing Authority on February 27th, MCN requested inspection reports for 2024 and 2025, a 2024 report dated 9/24/24, showed the apartment passed inspection with no deficiencies noted, which was just three weeks before Ms Perez’ first notice of violation to Mr Bates. The Heritage Seniors refused to provide any inspection reports to Mr Bates or MCN.

A number of residents have noted being intimidated, and refuse to go on record for fear of retaliation. The latest tactic against Mr Bates is refusal to accept payment for rent, which happened for February and March rents. MCN witnessed an attempt by Mr Bates to pay Ms Perez the rent due on March 7th, but she again refused to accept the check, and has since threatened Mr Bates with court over non-payment of dishwasher, roach clean-out fees, and non-payment of rent; all issues that could easily be resolved had the apartment manager accepted the Veterans payments.

“All of this has affected me greatly,” said a stressed out Mr Bates. “I just want to live my life out in peace with no worries.”

Ms Perez refused to comment to MCN, and inquiries to The Heritage Seniors parent company, Blazer Real Estate Services, have gone unanswered as well. One question still remains if the intimidation tactics as asserted by THS residents are localized to Montgomery, or is it a company-wide practice?

VPU - veteranspatriotsunited.org

VFW Post 12223, Montgomery - VFW12223.org