Tenant Troubles: Thunder Sun Homes files for bankruptcy

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - A Lubbock company at the center of dozens of tenant complaints and city violations has filed for bankruptcy.

The KCBD Investigates Team first reported on Thunder Sun Homes and its owner, Austin Hughes, in January.

Previous Story: KCBD Investigates Tenant Troubles: Tenants across the South Plains complain of water shut offs, overflowing sewage, and leaks

Since then, more concerned tenants have contacted the KCBD Investigates Team about concerns raised in the bankruptcy case.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brad Odell dismissed Thunder Sun Homes’ bankruptcy case without prejudice, which means Hughes can refile the case if he addresses the issues raised by the U.S. Trustee.

On October 7, Thunder Sun Homes, owned by Hughes, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

One week later, the U.S. Trustee filed a motion to dismiss the case.

In the filing, she stated Thunder Sun Homes owns several mobile home parks in Lubbock, and at least one of those properties is occupied by tenants and does not have functioning utilities.

This is a problem the KCBD Investigates team first reported on in January of this year, when we visited Thunder Sun Homes’ properties in Lubbock and Plainview.

We spoke with residents who complained of leaking sewage, water shut-offs, and the loss of electricity with no notice.

Previous Story: Tenant Troubles: Tenants say landlord failed to pay electricity bill for nearly two weeks

Previous Story: Tenant Troubles: City deems apartment units unlawful to occupy, issues citations to property owner

In this motion to dismiss the case, the U.S. Trustee claimed she made repeated requests to Thunder Sun Homes’ counsel to provide sufficient proof of property and casualty insurance policies as well as a statute update on the state of utilities at Thunder Sun Homes’ properties.

In the court filing, the trustee claimed Thunder Sun Homes’ counsel had not responded to her requests and “failed to cooperate with the United States Trustee.”

On Friday, the judge dismissed the case without prejudice.

We spoke with Hughes’ attorney, Max Tarbox, who said Hughes hired him when banks began to foreclose on Thunder Sun Homes’ properties.

Tarbox said he had hoped to create a committee of tenants who could work with Hughes and report to the U.S. Trustee, but he said they did not have that opportunity.

The case was filed on October 7.

“The Trustee claims it sent an email to me the following Monday, although I have no record of having received it. Another email was sent Tuesday morning, but due to my not being in my office, I read it around 10:00 a.m. telling me I had to respond by noon or a Motion to Dismiss would be filed. I was not able to respond before noon, but I did respond after lunch by talking to Kendra Rust of the U.S. Trustee’s office,” Tarbox stated.

Tarbox said he explained the situation, but he said the Motion was filed anyway.

Some of the tenants we interviewed during our investigation are now working with an attorney.

We will have more on the future of Thunder Sun Homes and what is next for the hundreds of tenants left in limbo in our next Tenant Troubles report.