Dumpsters sat unemptied for more than a month at Manor Independent Living, a 140-unit senior complex on Calmont Avenue in Fort Worth, while residents dealt with cockroach infestations, black mold and water leaking through their ceilings. Latrice Tucker, 67, has lived there long enough to remember when things were different. “It used to be well maintained,” she said, describing a building that has since fallen into disrepair around her.
The full scope of the decline was documented by the Fort Worth Report, which observed full trash bags piled in first-floor rooms and water leaking from the ceiling during an August 19 visit. The outlet's reporting found that the property owed roughly $9,605 for water, $16,989 for electricity, and $1,255 for gas as of August 3, on top of more than $5,000 in unpaid trash pickup balances dating back to January. Dumpsters were filled to the brim, and at one point an elevator trapped a custodian inside before the fire department rescued him.
Manor Independent Living sits in Fort Worth's Las Vegas Trail neighborhood, a 1.7-square-mile area where property owners formed a Public Improvement District in 2021 alongside the nonprofit LVTRise to combat decades of underinvestment, according to the City of Fort Worth. LVTRise runs a community resource center just across the street from the complex at 8201 Calmont Avenue, placing the senior home's troubles squarely inside a neighborhood already working to reverse years of neglect.
Promises of Affordable Care Give Way to Decay
The complex was acquired and renamed by Endeavor Group Real Estate in May 2024, part of a business EGRE has promoted as affordable housing through adaptive reuse. The firm's own promotional materials advertised bingo nights, creative activities, daily meals, an on-site doctor's office and 24-hour staff — amenities meant to serve older adults who could not afford pricier retirement communities. Those promises have largely evaporated: the dining room closed in April 2026, according to tenants cited by the Fort Worth Report, and regular bingo and poker activities ceased last year, per Tucker.
Now the dining and medical rooms sit unused, some of them for years, while residents rely on food deliveries or Meals on Wheels to eat. Tucker said she was hospitalized in June after passing out from not eating, and told the outlet she has lost 16 pounds over three months. Gary Daniel, who moved into the building in 2015, still calls it home despite everything. “It's still home,” he said, even as he and Tucker look for somewhere new to live.
Leaks, Mold and Bedbugs Compound the Crisis
Rob Walston, an 83-year-old Marine Corps veteran, said his apartment flooded just days after he moved in. Bruce Walton has dealt with an ongoing leak outside his unit, and another resident, who spoke anonymously, described severe bedbug bites disrupting sleep. The property also had black mold on a second-floor ceiling tile, and wastewater came up through floors and shower drains in several units, the Fort Worth Report found.
A former property manager attributed the first-floor leaks to clogged and broken pipes in an email cited by the outlet, and maintenance crews have since unclogged the pipes and reset a second elevator. Scott Holcomb signed a lease for a unit costing under $1,000 a month, while Loretta Jennings has already found a new apartment elsewhere, according to the same reporting.
Nonprofit Steps In as Lender Sues Over Defaulted Loan
Financial trouble runs parallel to the physical decay. American Community Lending Holdings LLC sued EGRE and Pramukh Mahant Senior Living Fort Worth for breach of contract on May 13, alleging that Calmont Villa FW — the entity the Tarrant Appraisal District lists as the property's owner, with EGRE and Pramukh Mahant as parent companies — defaulted on a loan exceeding $6 million. The defendants have denied the lender's allegations.
Homeless Military Veterans, an Oklahoma-based nonprofit founded by Kelly Hall after his own father experienced veteran homelessness while navigating VA bureaucracy, became involved in addressing the building's problems on August 20 and now aims to eventually own the property outright. Hall said on August 24 that all overdue utilities had been paid and that trash would be picked up that Wednesday. He attributed the building's conditions to bad leadership and said his organization plans to restart resident activities and has contacted other nonprofits about reopening the dining room. The North Texas Fair Housing Center began working with Manor tenants this month as well. Endeavor Group Real Estate did not respond to the Fort Worth Report's email request for comment.
Few Options for Seniors on Fixed Incomes
Under Texas Property Code § 92.056, landlords have a statutory duty to fix conditions that materially affect tenant health or safety within seven days of receiving formal written notice, according to FindLaw, with tenants able to terminate leases or pursue court remedies if the landlord fails to act. But those protections mean little for residents with nowhere else affordable to go. A 2026 UMass Boston Gerontology Institute study found that a single senior renting independently in Tarrant County needs roughly $32,000 a year for basic needs, according to the Dallas Morning News, leaving low-income retirees on standard Social Security short by more than $10,000 annually.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates Texas is short more than 708,000 affordable rental units for extremely low-income households, with only 25 units available for every 100 qualifying households. That scarcity showed up directly next door to Manor: an affordable housing development across the street had a two-year waitlist, according to the Fort Worth Report's reporting, leaving residents like Tucker and Daniel with few realistic alternatives even as they search for new places to live.
Fort Worth's Code Compliance Department can levy daily fines between $100 and $500 for uncollected trash, unsecured facilities and health hazards at registered multifamily properties, per the City of Fort Worth, and violations can be reported through the city's 311 system. Whether the city will pursue citations or fines against Calmont Villa FW remains an open question, as does how Homeless Military Veterans' involvement will ultimately affect the property's pending financial default and eventual ownership.
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