The tree-lined grounds of Heritage Oaks look much the same as they did 30 years ago, but clues to the changes befalling the Denton apartment complex are there for the keen observer.

DRC/Barron Ludlum

Heritage Oaks is shown recently at 2501 N. Bell Ave. in Denton.

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A moving van sat outside one unit on a recent afternoon at the North Bell Avenue property for low-income seniors. Neighbors sitting in the shade of their porches chatted about their new housing vouchers and increasing rents.

June Page sat outside one of the apartments, scanning the grounds of the home she’s about to leave after nine years. The Denton Housing Authority, the longtime manager of Heritage Oaks, took ownership of the property July 1 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a change that gave residents the option of taking their government housing aid elsewhere.

Page said she doesn’t want to pass up a chance to move to a newer property.

“It’s just not kept up to suit me,” she said. “I still have friends here, although some have moved away. I’m going to have to start all over.”

The change of ownership brought a slew of changes that many residents are still struggling to understand. Some say their rent payments ballooned without warning, and that calls to their new offsite caseworkers for explanation go unreturned.

At the same time, rumors are swirling about the future of Heritage Oaks, despite assurances this month from housing authority leader Shirley Hensley that it would remain open for the foreseeable future.

Public records show officials with the public housing agency continue to discuss redeveloping the site, even as they plan to keep Heritage Oaks open for at least three to four years.

Hensley, the housing authority’s chief executive officer, said her staff is doing all it can to keep residents informed. Staff members held a series of meetings to explain the changes and continue to communicate with tenants one-on-one, she said.

“They have asked questions and called,” she said. “We’ve tried to work with answering their questions and help them to understand.”

Paying what’s due

Many of the questions have revolved around rent.

The housing authority’s 30-year contract that ensured federal aid for Heritage Oaks expired June 30, and its board of directors voted last year against renewing it. As a result, the roughly 120 residents received federal Section 8 vouchers they could use to stay in their homes or move to other rental properties by July 31.

Built in 1979, Heritage Oaks traditionally housed low-income seniors who paid rent on a sliding scale based on their means. On July 1, the property was opened to seniors regardless of income, and rents increased to $550 for a one-bedroom unit and $650 for a two-bedroom apartment, up from $399 and $456, respectively.

In an interview in late June, Hensley said the rent increase would not affect tenants who received Section 8 vouchers, because they would continue to pay 30 percent of their gross income and assets. She said that some tenants would pay more, however, because the housing authority was changing the way Heritage Oaks calculated a rent discount that partly subsidized their utility use. In effect, that change would amount to a rent increase of $20 a month, she said.

In a series of interviews, residents reported that their monthly rent payments jumped by a range of $20 to $219, and most said they had no idea why. Many declined to be quoted by name, reflecting a belief shared by some Heritage Oaks residents that they can’t speak out without facing retribution.

Residents offered paperwork showing that the housing authority sent notices of their new rents as late as June 30, the day before they took effect. New security and pet deposits, $150 apiece, also kicked in July 1, along with a new late-payment fee of $20, up from $5.

Hensley said residents who stayed were considered “new move-ins” — all had to sign new leases — so the housing authority was not required to give them 30 days’ notice of the change in rents. Officials did offer advance notice of the switch to the voucher program, she said.

Hensley said a tenant’s rent increase depended on a mix of personal factors, including changes in income or assets. The housing authority also started requiring written verification from doctors before granting rent deductions based on tenants’ anticipated medical expenses. Tenants’ rents still may drop in coming days as doctors continue sending in the verification forms, she said.

Tami Beeson, the daughter of a Heritage Oaks resident, drove to Denton last week to help her mother sort through the changes. Before that, her mother was so distraught and confused that she would break down in tears over the phone, Beeson said.

In the end, her mother’s rent actually decreased, but Beeson said the process was needlessly chaotic.

“It was just the confusion and the worry and the demanding nature of what they were doing with those folks,” Beeson said. “Nobody understood what was going on, how it was going to affect them.”

Heritage Oaks resident Mabel Benz agreed.

“There was no excuse for that lack of information that was going on,” Benz said. “But that’s a customary thing for them. When they have a problem, it seems to me that they shut their lines down … and you can only get the answering service.”

The housing authority is not part of the city government, although the mayor makes appointments to the five-member governing board. Mayor Mark Burroughs said Thursday he’d received only two inquiries about the changes at Heritage Oaks, and that he was unaware of the rent increases.

“It’s not something the city is involved with as a policy issue,” he said.

Uncertain fate

Norton Holland stood outside his apartment and pointed to the roof over his porch, his face tight with disgust. The wood was split, slowly crumbling from apparent water damage.

The property manager “wrote that up as a work order months ago,” he said, shaking his head.

Heritage Oaks tenants have complained for years about poor property maintenance, outdated amenities and shoddy lawn care. An independent review in 2007 recommended about $1.67 million in property improvements, along with more than $100,000 in urgent repairs related to drainage, erosion and foundation problems.

Officials with the housing authority have said they lack the money for major repairs. They alarmed tenants in 2008 with talk of tearing down Heritage Oaks and replacing it with an affordable housing project funded by tax credits, even though they stressed that any major changes wouldn’t come for years.

Today, the housing authority is in talks with Dallas-based Carleton Residential Properties, the developer of the Renaissance Courts townhomes on East Hickory Street, about developing a new property for low-income seniors, according to minutes from the board’s May meeting. The property, if built, could replace Heritage Oaks or occupy another site, officials said at the meeting.

The housing authority received nearly $8 million in state tax credits for the Renaissance Courts complex. That allowed the developer to offset some federal tax liability in exchange for building reasonably priced rental housing.

Housing authority leaders have said a new senior property also could use tax credits, requiring approval from the Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs. The Denton City Council would have to show support as well, but Hensley said the housing authority has not formally approached either entity because the plans are still in their infancy.

The issue is important because the housing authority’s waiting list for Section 8 vouchers already includes 200 seniors, and the demand is expected to grow as more baby boomers qualify for senior housing, Hensley said.

Hensley’s staff recommended in May that Heritage Oaks be maintained “for at least three to four years as a senior property with some repairs, upgrades and additions to amenities,” according to the board meeting minutes. All board members present agreed with the recommendation.

Hensley said her agency is performing routine maintenance and replacing roofs, air conditioners, water heaters and other appliances as needed. But no major renovations are planned, she said.

Some board members have said the agency lacked money for maintenance partly because of Heritage Oaks’ financing system, where a portion of the rent income went into an escrow account. That account, containing about $1.4 million, became available July 1, but Hensley said board members have not decided how to use the money.

Heritage Oaks resident Irene Burk said the fact that officials aren’t planning major renovations there shows they’re not committed to keeping it open long-term.

“They do have the money to make the repairs if they wanted to,” Burk said.

Still a good bargain

Other Heritage Oaks residents have responded differently to the changes.

Outside one building last week, Robbie Reed and her neighbor sat chatting casually on their porch. Reed’s rent had risen by more than $200.

She, too, didn’t know why it had risen so dramatically, and she couldn’t get in touch with her Section 8 caseworker, she said. “You have to leave a message.”

Still, she didn’t understand why some residents were so worked up.

“You can’t find rent like this if you move,” Reed said.

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com.