ASHVILLE - Al Gore says he will follow through on a promise to fix plumbing problems in a home he owns after tenants complained that management had ignored their pleas for repairs.
''I heard there was a problem. I took action to make sure that it will be solved and it will be,'' Gore told reporters Monday on his way to a presidential campaign stop in New York City.
Gore said he hadn't talked to the tenant, Tracy Mayberry, since Saturday when he ''had a very nice conversation'' with her. He said the problems came to his attention after she called the local TV news. He has offered to put the family up while repairs are made.
Mayberry said Gore apologized Saturday after she called him a slumlord. On Monday, she said someone she thought was Gore telephoned again to tell her to stop ''bad-mouthing him.''
Gore said he did not make a follow-up call Monday, and his campaign said the woman must have been the victim of a prank.
Mayberry and her family pay $400 a month for a four-bedroom house near Gore's home in Carthage, 50 miles east of Nashville.
Gore's property managers told Mayberry she would have to leave the home because the water would be turned off for repairs.
