On Jacksonville’s Westside, some residents say their apartment complex is starting to feel more like an abandoned building than a home. At a Cedar Hills property on Wilson Boulevard, longtime tenants report that vacant units have been taken over by squatters, leaving neighbors nervous about walking to their cars, using shared spaces or taking out the trash after dark.
One of those tenants, Karen Jennings, told reporters she has lived at the building since 2022 and first started noticing people moving in without leases in 2023. Residents describe boarded-up windows, doors left wide open and unfamiliar faces roaming the property and rummaging through dumpsters late at night.
According to Action News Jax, Jennings says the complex on Wilson Boulevard in Cedar Hills has racked up dozens of code-enforcement citations, with the station obtaining a file of more than 100 pages that shows 32 citations in 2025 alone. The outlet also reports that Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office records list six calls to the building between Jan. 1, 2025 and Feb. 25, 2026. Jennings told reporters she woke up to a fire she believes squatters started, and police later cleared the property.
Part of a Wider Westside Pattern
News4JAX’s I-TEAM has documented similar problems at other Westside complexes. At Grassy Pond Apartments, the station found roughly 42 of 82 units sitting vacant after a foreclosure, and about 20 of those empty apartments reportedly occupied by squatters. The same reporting detailed a sinkhole in the parking lot and water outages that stretched on for days, forcing tenants to buy bottled water while new management promised repairs.
Who Owns the Wilson Boulevard Building?
Action News Jax reports that the Wilson Boulevard property is now owned by Legacy Family Communities LLC and was previously owned by People’s Choice Apartments LLC. Tenants told the station they repeatedly contacted the leasing office for help but rarely got a response. Residents say that lack of engagement from management has helped create openings for unauthorized occupants and made it harder to secure common areas or keep people from breaking into empty units.
Legal Options for Renters
Legal experts told News4JAX that Florida law gives renters an implied right to a safe, habitable home. They advise tenants to document conditions and send landlords a written seven-day notice demanding repairs. Consumer-rights attorney Glenn Banner said such a notice can lay the groundwork for further action if the landlord does not respond, including the possibility of withholding rent or ending the lease under certain conditions. Tenant advocates caution that anyone living in a property tied up in foreclosure or ownership changes should keep detailed records and seek legal help when possible…