LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Tenant frustration at a Little Rock apartment complex reached a new level Thursday as a letter was delivered to city hall.

Tenants of Big Country Chateau Apartments and their allies hand-delivered a letter to the City of Little Rock City Hall as frustration mounts over living conditions. On Monday, notices had been posted on tenants’ doors that electricity would be shut off in two weeks.

Earlier notices received by tenants said water would be shut off on March 1.

The group is asking for city help in relocating tenants and holding off on any utility shut-off until those living in the apartments can find new housing.

Tenants of the apartments pay rent which includes utilities. Apartments.com show that rent at Big Country runs from $700 to $900 depending on apartment size.

Attorney General Tim Griffith said in a statement Monday that he had reached out to Entergy and Central Arkansas Water to keep the utilities connected while he sought “a legal remedy for the landlord’s unlawful conduct.”

On Monday, Entergy issued a statement that it was working with the attorney general. Central Arkansas water issued a statement that it “wanted to provide an extended grace period between the time of the notification and the shutoff date to allow residents to make any arrangements they need to make in preparation for shutoff.”

Mayor Frank Scott Jr.’s office had previously announced it was prepared to provide hotel vouchers for tenants if utilities were shut off.

The apartment complex has been in the news previously. Last summer tenants received water shut-off notices, resulting in city inspectors finding several violations on the property.

The shut-off notice was later resolved with the leasing company and the water was not shut off.

Big Country Chateau is owned by APEX Equity Group of Newark, New Jersey. In August, then-Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said Big Country Chateau and APEX violated Arkansas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Police have recently arrested 15-year-old Tyler Bland in connection with a Dec. 26 shooting death at the apartments, the third violent crime of 2022 for the Colonel Glenn Road complex.