Trash bags are spilling out of nearly every bin at Summer Oaks Apartments in Oklahoma City, piling up so visibly that the mess can be seen from the sidewalk along NW 16th Street. Tenants say the overflow has been building for weeks, and some are now planning to move out rather than keep dealing with it.
Vicci Chatmon, a tenant at the complex, said the flies and smell coming from the dumpster area are so bad that she can no longer sit on her balcony. As reported by KFOR, Chatmon said she and other tenants have repeatedly complained to onsite managers, and she has now requested the return of her security deposit so she can move out entirely. Fellow tenant Rene Staglin described the trash area in blunter terms, saying it smells like something is dead.
Staglin said tenants believe their complaints have gone nowhere since Vesta Realty took over management of the property. Onsite managers told KFOR they have been emailing Vesta Realty corporate about the issue, but tenants including Deborah Young say those complaints have piled up right alongside the garbage, with residents reporting the trash has been accumulating for weeks.
Vesta Realty's Response and a Disputed Timeline
Marc Kulick, CEO of Vesta Realty, told KFOR he learned of the trash problem Wednesday morning and said it should be solved immediately, with properties serviced as quickly as the vendor can arrive. Kulick asked residents with unresolved issues to email [email protected]. Young pushed back on Kulick's claim that Wednesday was his first notice of the problem, disputing the timeline he gave to the outlet. KFOR reported it was not allowed onto the Summer Oaks property while reporting the story.
Vesta Realty manages Summer Oaks, along with roughly 30 apartment complexes across Oklahoma — 16 in Oklahoma City and 12 in Tulsa, according to KGOU. Summer Oaks itself carries an unaccredited C+ rating with the Better Business Bureau of Central Oklahoma over unaddressed consumer complaints, per the bureau's listing for the property.
A Company Buckling Under Lawsuits and Unpaid Bills
The overflowing dumpsters at Summer Oaks are not an isolated maintenance lapse. As of April, Vesta Realty and Kulick faced at least 13 lawsuits filed since late 2025, including a $174 million foreclosure action from lender Fannie Mae over unpaid principal, credit card debt claims topping $300,000, and multiple suits from unpaid contractors, according to the Purcell Register. That financial strain has repeatedly led waste haulers to pull dumpsters from Vesta properties over non-payment, the newspaper's reporting shows, while the company also racked up $421,534 in unpaid municipal water bills in Tulsa by March.
A separate 199-page lawsuit filed in Kansas in March by former business partner Josef Loeffler accused Kulick of hiding financial distress from investors and diverting millions in company funds toward personal credit cards, luxury car loans, and gambling debts, according to a report from Medium. The turmoil has spread into questions over who even runs the properties: a legal dispute between Vesta Realty and YSA Investments over control of apartment complexes across the state led to conflicting notices telling tenants which company should receive rent, as reported by KJRH in July.
What Tenants Can and Cannot Do Under Oklahoma Law
Under the Oklahoma Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, landlords of multi-family complexes are legally required to provide trash receptacles, arrange frequent waste removal, and keep common areas safe and sanitary, according to the Oklahoma Bar Association. Oklahoma City's own municipal code treats overflowing trash containers and uncollected refuse as public nuisances that can draw daily fines under Chapter 49, per National Doorstep Valet Trash.
Still, state law gives renters little quick leverage. Tenants seeking remedies for unsafe or unsanitary conditions must first send a 14-day written notice to repair; if the problem isn't fixed, the lease doesn't terminate for another 30 days, and any repair-and-deduct remedy is capped at just $100, per the Oklahoma Bar Association's guidance. Housing advocates and state lawmakers have pointed to Vesta Realty's statewide breakdown this year as evidence for reforming those landlord-tenant laws, which the Purcell Register notes rank among the weakest in the country for tenant protections.
Summer Oaks is not the first Vesta-managed property to draw scrutiny this year. Hoodline previously reported on a code enforcement sweep at Sand Hills in Midwest City, and on Stillwater renters at Remington Ranch who went months without hot water. For now, tenants at Summer Oaks say they're left waiting on a company already buried in lawsuits, unpaid vendors, and a leadership dispute over who is even in charge.
