Trash Finally Picked Up At Camden Apartment Complex After Weeks Of Overflowing Dumpsters, But Residents Still Not Satisfied With 'Slumlord' Owners

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CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- Massive piles of trash have finally been picked up at a South Jersey apartment complex. Now, officials are taking action against the corporate landlord.

To say residents at Crestbury Apartments in Camden have felt trashed is an understatement.

Dumpsters, which were supposed to be emptied every other day, were left stagnant for a week and a half, creating sprawling, pest-infested mounds of garbage.

"Rats, raccoons, opossums, baby foxes out here digging in our trash. It's not even safe," resident Arica Holmes said.

Finally, some relief came Tuesday morning, as Waste Management sent a small fleet of trash trucks and tractors to haul the filth away.

"Thank the Lord, we needed this," one resident said.

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There are two different versions of why the backup happened, according to Camden mayor Frank Moran.

Crestbury's management wasn't paying their trash bill.

"It was upwards of $30,000 that they owed Waste Management and Waste Management stopped collecting the trash," Moran said.

Crestbury's property management company WinnResidential has a different story.

"We had a payment snafu," property manager Wendy Smith said. "I like to say that word."

Winn says Waste management didn't get paid due to changing trash collection providers.

Waste Management won't comment on the account, but it's clear their dumpsters were in place before the backup began, and they say the came out of respect for the residents.

Mayor Moran and health inspectors toured some of the 392 apartments here after receiving complaints of mold and other maintenance problems, issuing seven violations for substandard conditions.

Eyewitness News found the complex is owned by a New York investment firm called Lincoln Avenue Capital.

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Managing partners, the Bronfman family, are the billionaire heirs to Seagram's liquor empire. They bought the government subsidized housing complex under a tax-break program that allows them to pay a fee in lieu of property taxes until the year 2031.

Management says so far, they've invested less than $500,000 on improvements to the aging complex.

"It is totally unacceptable for our folks in the city, living in a complex of such that is under these conditions," Moran said.

On Tuesday, Camden County Freeholder director Louis Cappelli issued a scathing statement to the owners of Crestbury.

"We will ensure that residents are put first and that these New York City slumlords are held to the highest standards," read the statement. "In short, we will not tolerate this type of outlandish behavior by Wall Street billionaires and we will hold their feet to the fire to improve the quality of life for our residents."

Eyewitness News reached out to the apartment complex's owners today, but did not receive a response.