HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Families, on the north side of town, who say their street lights were disconnected.
The Imperial Heights neighborhood is on King Heights Lane and North Vista Drive that is between 45 and the Hardy Toll road, just south of FM 1960.
Neighbors in that neighborhood say they've been left in the dark.
"That street light is out," homeowner Vanessa Hammonds said during a video recorded on Thursday in her dark neighborhood. "Every street light over here is out because our homeowners association management company has not paid our bills."
"They keep the residents in the dark," Jessica Harris, who is recently on the Imperial Height HOA Board of Directors, said. "When they turned the lights off I was like, 'Woah, there's something going on here, there's a mismanagement somewhere that caused the street lights to be turned off.'"
Neighbors say they've been left in the dark figuratively and literally.
Last week in video captured through a homeowners camera, workers can be seen shutting off street lights along King Heights lane.
Harris and Hammonds are both newly on the homeowner association board of directors and t hey say they want change after finding out through a Reliant disconnection notice that Associa Company who manages their neighborhood had a past due balance nearly $6,000 to keep the streetlights on in their neighborhood.
"They're not taking accountability and they're passing the buck," Hammonds said. "I'm specially asking for invoices. I don't care what you paid I want to know what was owed. Because if you paid 150 and we owed 6,000, these are two different stories."
Representatives with Associa Principal Management Group of Houston are not saying how or why this happened... they say lights will be back on Wednesday evening - and empathize with how frustrating this is for neighbors.
Harris says she'll believe it when she sees it after she says they were already told it would happen Monday. They say the lack of street lights is a safety concern for all who live in the community.
"I want Associa to refund us. We shouldn't have the late fee. We shouldn't have the disconnection fee," Hammonds said.
In a statement to ABC13, a Reliant spokesperson says they're unable to give us account details but can confirm there have been no payments made since January.
"Accounts are past-due after the indicated due date on the bill and we provide customers with numerous disconnection notices in advance before disconnecting their power. We made every attempt possible to connect with this customer regarding their outstanding balance. Disconnection notices were also mailed to the individual residents in April to make them aware of the situation so it would not come as a surprise. Unfortunately, at this point, we are unable to restore power for this customer until their past due balance is resolved. We encourage them to reach out to us and we will gladly work together on a quick resolution for their residents," said NRG communications manager Megan Talley. Representatives at CenterPoint Energy tell ABC13 this in reference to this ongoing situation: "CenterPoint Energy is committed to providing best-in-class customer service and addressing customer concerns. The streetlight account for the Imperial Heights Homeowner's Association has been made current. Service is expected to be restored as soon as possible." Leaders at SimplyHome/ SimplyRent tell ABC13 they manage rental homes within the Imperial Heights neighborhood and were made aware of complaints related to the streetlights being off. "The responsible party is Principal Management Group of Houston - An Associa Company. According to their update, the billing was being sent to an incorrect address, which led to the missed payments," said SimplyHome President Matt Hansen. "They have since corrected the address, and per their communication, the lights are expected to be turned back on by tomorrow.
With a community in the dark Hammonds and Harris say want more transparency and accountability --- and for the safety of all who live in Imperial Heights to be prioritized so this does not happen again.
Associa has not replied our request for comment on how they plan to prevent this from happening again.
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