A Northwestern State University women’s basketball player and her roommate have filed a lawsuit against their apartment complex, alleging management left them in an uninhabitable unit where indoor temperatures exceeded 93 degrees following an air conditioning failure.
Najila Lawrence and Yaly Ben Harush filed the petition in Natchitoches City Court on Sept. 24 against ECA Melrose Owner LLC and property manager Green Alpha Property Management LLC. The suit seeks lease cancellation, full refund of rent and deposits, and damages for emotional distress and elevated utility costs.
According to the filing, the pair moved from Fort Collins, Colorado, to Natchitoches on Aug. 4 so Harush could attend college and join the Lady Demons basketball team.
The petition states their initial unit at 100 North Melrose was uninhabitable due to mold, stained carpets, a foul odor, insects emerging from the drain and a damaged tub. After spending two nights in a model unit, the tenants signed a lease on Aug. 6 for Apartment 1505, where they say the central air conditioning failed to function from their first day of occupancy.
Between Aug. 6 and Sept. 12, the plaintiffs allege they faced extreme indoor heat alongside a litany of unresolved maintenance problems. Documented issues included black discharge from faucets, kitchen sink leaks, standing water from a flooded dishwasher, inoperable stovetop burners and a broken toilet.
Court filings state management’s primary written response to the heat complaints came via text message, advising the tenants to use LED bulbs, hang heavy blackout curtains and avoid lowering the thermostat below 70 degrees because “this southern heat makes AC hard to keep cool.”
On Aug. 19, management was informed that Harush was recovering from ACL surgery and that the excessive heat hindered her rehabilitation, according to the lawsuit. During a follow-up conversation two days later, an on-site property representative allegedly bypassed repair inquiries to ask Lawrence, “Are you Israeli, too?” The question led the tenants to suspect their repair requests were deprioritized due to discrimination, the petition states.
Harush and Lawrence vacated the apartment on Sept. 12 after management reportedly refused to permit an early lease termination without charging two months of rent as a penalty and forfeiting their security deposit.
The lawsuit alleges violations of Louisiana Civil Code articles governing a landlord’s duty to maintain leased property and the statutory warranty of fitness for residential occupancy.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys T. Taylor Townsend and Shantel M. Wempren of Natchitoches. Representatives for ECA Melrose Owner LLC and Green Alpha Property Management LLC had not filed a formal response in court records as of early October.