Justice For Tenants in West Texas
Zealous advocacy ensures Lubbock tenants' rights are enforced
Since April 2025, the Lubbock Community Revitalization Project (CRP) office focused most of its fire power on helping the tenants of a bad landlord in Lubbock, Thunder Sun, Inc. Mark Oualline and Adam Pirtle, with the valuable assistance of Penelope Rodriguez, have represented Thunder Sun tenants throughout the South Plains on everything from getting compensation for stolen rent money to restoring water and electric service when Thunder Sun did not pay the bills.
Adam’s first Thunder Sun client was John Macken. In January 2025, Mr. Macken became sick and lost his job. He and his family were evicted from their home. While searching for new housing after the eviction, Mr. Macken found a Facebook advertisement from Thunder Sun for a house for rent stating that "second-chance" renters were welcome to apply. Mr. Macken reached out to Thunder Sun and was told that the unit would be ready by April 1. He paid $1,000 for the first month’s rent and a $50 security deposit. But when April 1 came, Thunder Sun told Mr. Macken that the unit was not ready and did not let him move in. They also refused to refund the $1,000 rent payment, which threw his family into a tailspin. Mr. Macken, his wife, their two children, and two dogs were forced to live in a crowded hotel room for three months until Mr. Macken could save enough money for another deposit and first month’s rent for another place to live. Adam represented Mr. Macken in suing Thunder Sun under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Adam was able to secure Mr. Macken a default judgment of $32,843. CRP Attorney Ben Gerzik was indispensable in this case: the favorable result for Mr. Macken would not have been possible without Ben’s legal research and expert drafting help on the DTPA letter and petition.
Adam also represented Maria Tucker and Ida Bosque, residents of a Thunder Sun-owned mobile home park, in Lubbock. Ms. Tucker applied for help from LANWT after her electricity had been disconnected because Thunder Sun had not paid the utility bills. Adam filed an application for a writ of restoration in justice court. The judge granted the writ of restoration, but Thunder Sun did not immediately comply. Adam pushed the judge to hold Thunder Sun in contempt of court for not immediately following the court order. Thunder Sun finally paid the electricity bill and restored the tenants' power. Adam later secured a temporary injunction in district court against Thunder Sun when Thunder Sun’s nonpayment of the utility bills again threatened disconnection. Since securing the injunction, power has remained on at the property. As before, these victories would not have happened without Ben’s help drafting pleadings and helping Adam plan, conduct research, and strategize next steps.
Unfortunately for the residents at that mobile home park, Thunder Sun had also not been performing proper maintenance on the property's sewer lines. On October 9, the city shut down the water at the property because the overwhelming sewage problem in the park caused open pools of sewage to bubble up from underground and backup into homes. Because Thunder Sun declared bankruptcy on October 7, bringing an action in state court to restore water service was prohibited. Therefore, Adam, with the excellent help of LANWT Attorney Eric Liepins, intervened in the bankruptcy on behalf of Ms. Tucker and the other tenants. Partially because of LANWT’s advocacy, the bankruptcy court dismissed the bankruptcy on October 23. The next day, Adam represented Ms. Bosque in applying for a writ of restoration of water in the park. In an ex parte hearing, Judge Dills, Lubbock County JP#3, granted the writ the same day. When water was not restored, Adam moved for a show cause hearing to hold Austin Hughes, president of Thunder Sun, Inc., in contempt of court. At the show cause hearing on October 31, the judge ordered Mr. Hughes to fix the sewer lines by November 7 or face a jail sentence. Thunder Sun finally restored water on November 5. KCBD, the local NBC affiliate, reported on this story here: https://www.kcbd.com/2025/11/11/thunder-sun-homes-tenants-get-water-restored-after-court-threat/
As of November 12, Adam has helped clients receive the following relief against Thunder Sun:
Since April 2025, the Lubbock Community Revitalization Project (CRP) office focused most of its fire power on helping the tenants of a bad landlord in Lubbock, Thunder Sun, Inc. Mark Oualline and Adam Pirtle, with the valuable assistance of Penelope Rodriguez, have represented Thunder Sun tenants throughout the South Plains on everything from getting compensation for stolen rent money to restoring water and electric service when Thunder Sun did not pay the bills.
Adam’s first Thunder Sun client was John Macken. In January 2025, Mr. Macken became sick and lost his job. He and his family were evicted from their home. While searching for new housing after the eviction, Mr. Macken found a Facebook advertisement from Thunder Sun for a house for rent stating that "second-chance" renters were welcome to apply. Mr. Macken reached out to Thunder Sun and was told that the unit would be ready by April 1. He paid $1,000 for the first month’s rent and a $50 security deposit. But when April 1 came, Thunder Sun told Mr. Macken that the unit was not ready and did not let him move in. They also refused to refund the $1,000 rent payment, which threw his family into a tailspin. Mr. Macken, his wife, their two children, and two dogs were forced to live in a crowded hotel room for three months until Mr. Macken could save enough money for another deposit and first month’s rent for another place to live. Adam represented Mr. Macken in suing Thunder Sun under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Adam was able to secure Mr. Macken a default judgment of $32,843. CRP Attorney Ben Gerzik was indispensable in this case: the favorable result for Mr. Macken would not have been possible without Ben’s legal research and expert drafting help on the DTPA letter and petition.
Adam also represented Maria Tucker and Ida Bosque, residents of a Thunder Sun-owned mobile home park, in Lubbock. Ms. Tucker applied for help from LANWT after her electricity had been disconnected because Thunder Sun had not paid the utility bills. Adam filed an application for a writ of restoration in justice court. The judge granted the writ of restoration, but Thunder Sun did not immediately comply. Adam pushed the judge to hold Thunder Sun in contempt of court for not immediately following the court order. Thunder Sun finally paid the electricity bill and restored the tenants' power. Adam later secured a temporary injunction in district court against Thunder Sun when Thunder Sun’s nonpayment of the utility bills again threatened disconnection. Since securing the injunction, power has remained on at the property. As before, these victories would not have happened without Ben’s help drafting pleadings and helping Adam plan, conduct research, and strategize next steps.
Unfortunately for the residents at that mobile home park, Thunder Sun had also not been performing proper maintenance on the property's sewer lines. On October 9, the city shut down the water at the property because the overwhelming sewage problem in the park caused open pools of sewage to bubble up from underground and backup into homes. Because Thunder Sun declared bankruptcy on October 7, bringing an action in state court to restore water service was prohibited. Therefore, Adam, with the excellent help of LANWT Attorney Eric Liepins, intervened in the bankruptcy on behalf of Ms. Tucker and the other tenants. Partially because of LANWT’s advocacy, the bankruptcy court dismissed the bankruptcy on October 23. The next day, Adam represented Ms. Bosque in applying for a writ of restoration of water in the park. In an ex parte hearing, Judge Dills, Lubbock County JP#3, granted the writ the same day. When water was not restored, Adam moved for a show cause hearing to hold Austin Hughes, president of Thunder Sun, Inc., in contempt of court. At the show cause hearing on October 31, the judge ordered Mr. Hughes to fix the sewer lines by November 7 or face a jail sentence. Thunder Sun finally restored water on November 5. KCBD, the local NBC affiliate, reported on this story here: https://www.kcbd.com/2025/11/11/thunder-sun-homes-tenants-get-water-restored-after-court-threat/
As of November 12, Adam has helped clients receive the following relief against Thunder Sun:
- 1 TRO and 1 renewal of a TRO requiring Thunder Sun to pay a delinquent electric bill
- 1 Temporary Injunction requiring Thunder Sun to pay a delinquent electric bill
- 3 Writs of Restoration of Utilities
- 3 Contempt Orders
- 1 repair order
- 1 default judgment for $3,127 for failure to repair, retaliation and unlawful disconnection of utilities
- 1 default judgment for Deceptive Trade Practices for $32,843.55
- 1 judgment for unlawful disconnection of utilities for $1,300.
Adam Pirtle