A group of public housing residents are suing a city official for not enforcing building-quality standards at federally subsidized apartments, saying the policy has unfairly left low-income tenants to languish in poor living conditions that are illegal under city law.

Landlords are required by the city building code to keep rental properties in decent condition, but the city typically doesn’t inspect or enforce those requirements at federally subsidized programs, according to the lawsuit.

Instead, the city says it’s the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees the subsidized housing program, to ensure residents receive quality housing in subsidized apartments, according to the lawsuit.

Jim Kowalski, executive director of the Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, which is representing the residents, said the city policy doesn’t make sense and it creates a disparity between who can and cannot receive city services.

“If you rent a house in Mandarin, you can call 630-City. If you rent a Section 8 house, you can’t,” said Kowalski, referring to the city’s hotline to report potential building code violations. “If you call 630-City and ask for assistance on enforcing the building code, it really shouldn’t matter where you live.”

The five residents filing the lawsuit reported complaints earlier this year with the city about poor living conditions, like roach infestation, broken windows and collapsing floors, at Oakwood Villas, Washington Heights, Hogan Creek Towers and Twin Towers.

In their lawsuit against the city’s code compliance chief Bryan Mosier, the residents argue the city has a legal responsibility to enforce those requirements and are demanding they begin doing so at all apartments — especially since HUD has demonstrated an inability to enforce its own rules.

Last year’s situation at Eureka Garden is a “glaring” example, the attorneys say.

After years of neglect and violence plaguing the Westside apartments, city inspectors last October flooded the complex after receiving a letter from the tenants’ association outlining a list of problems, like significant mold, toilet backups and rusting staircases in danger of collapsing.

Many of those conditions were verified by inspectors, who found violations in 163 of the 165 apartments they inspected at the complex.

Just two months before those inspections, HUD inspectors awarded the complex an 85 out of 100 score.

Mayor Lenny Curry toured the apartment complex and called the conditions “heartbreaking.”

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio described the owners of the complex, Global Ministries Foundation, as slumlords and called for a criminal investigation. Federal agents raided the company’s Tennessee-based headquarters in August.

The city also issued hundreds of code violations to Global Ministries. In response, the owners slowly began resolving the problems.

While most of the conditions described in the lawsuit aren’t as extreme as those found at Eureka Garden, they still violate the city’s building code, according to the residents’ attorneys.

If the city responded to other complaints with the enforcement action seen at Eureka Garden, it could likely improve the poor living conditions that have long persisted at other subsidized housing complexes, said Jeff Haynie, an attorney representing the residents in their suit.

“You saw things begin to improve at Eureka Garden when? When the city did its code sweep. That’s when you saw things starting,” Haynie said.

In Mosier’s response to the suit, city attorneys argued the residents don’t have the legal right to demand the city inspect all buildings. Local governments have immunity from such lawsuits, and the residents have other remedies to solve their issues, city attorneys argue.

City spokeswoman Marsha Oliver and Mosier didn’t respond to requests for an interview.

In a letter included in the suit, Mosier said the city refers complaints to HUD to ensure the agency is aware of the complaints and to force it to take responsibility for the conditions at subsidized complexes.

However, the city’s refusal to enforce the building code at subsidized apartments is “very alarming,” said City Councilman Garrett Dennis, who was active in the city’s response to Eureka Garden.

“When we do nothing, when we turn a blind eye to obvious blight or even perceived blight, it further declines the community, the neighborhood,” Dennis said. “If we had taken the approach of not doing anything, Eureka Garden would still be in the situation it was in a year ago.”

The complaints in the lawsuit include:

■ Dawn Gallashaw, 45, a resident at Oakwood Villa Apartments in Arlington, reported in May 2016 there was a crack in her bedroom wall, a gap between the window that allowed air and insects to enter and termite damage to the frame of her door.

Gallashaw reported the concerns to her landlord but didn’t receive a response. When she reported the conditions to the city, officials told her they couldn’t do anything and referred her to HUD. The federal agency never responded to her complaint.

■ Clarissa Daniels, 36, a resident at Oakwood Villa, reported in March 2016 there was a large hole under her sink created by her landlord that allowed insects to enter, a gap under her window that allows air and insects to enter and a missing window that was knocked out by her landlord’s staff.

In response to Daniels’ complaint, city officials told her to call HUD. Agency officials told her to report the problems to her landlord, which she already did.

■ Tywanda Edwards, 34, a resident at Washington Heights Apartments in Northwest Jacksonville, reported in June that her apartment was infested with termites and the floors in her apartment were “giving way” as a result of the termite damage. City officials told Edwards it forwarded her complaints to HUD.

Washington Heights is also owned by Global Ministries.

■ George Lyons, 48, a resident at Hogan Creek Towers in Mayport, reported to the city in January that a broken pipe had been pouring water into his bathroom and the apartment below his. He also reported staffers for the Jacksonville Housing Authority, which owns the apartment, left a large hole in the bathroom after repairing the leak.

A city inspector came to the apartment but told Edwards she couldn’t inspect JHA property after she arrived and left.

■ Marsha Kornegay, 63, a resident at Twin Towers Apartments in Northwest Jacksonville, reported to the city in April that her apartment was infested with roaches “despite her meticulous cleaning and pest control efforts.”

City inspectors came to her apartment and issued the Jacksonville Housing Association, which owns the complex, a citation for the infestation. However, the inspector’s superior later notified him that Twin Towers was owned by JHA and told him not to take any further action.

Kornegay later called the city to check on the status of her complaint, but officials told her the property was outside their jurisdiction and to call HUD.

Christopher Hong: [email protected]; (904) 359-4272