JACKSONVILLE, Ark. — Families in Jacksonville are scrambling to find new housing after the Willow Bend apartment complex shut down, ending months of unsafe living conditions that tenants say included black mold, raw sewage leaking into apartments, and persistent bug infestations.

Residents say the conditions were so severe, they often felt unsafe in their own homes. “The roaches are unreal. We had raccoons in our attic for a long time. We thought people were living up there,” Darrell Huddleston, a five-year resident, said.

Another tenant said, “No one wants to come see me because it's terrible. I can't have company without feeling embarrassed because they won't fix anything. There's mold in there — you smell it when you walk in.”

The housing crisis at Willow Bend has been building for y

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