Houston apartment evictions

[REWahoo]

I didn't know whether to post this in the "Rent vs Buy," "Real Estate Investing" or "Hurricane Harvey" threads so I decided to create one.

After the rain, eviction notices for many

A week after the rain stopped, the eviction notices started showing up.
By Labor Day, managers of swamped apartment complexes across the Houston area were informing tenants that it's time to pack up their things and find another place to live.

 

[aja8888]

I didn't know whether to post this in the "Rent vs Buy," "Real Estate Investing" or "Hurricane Harvey" threads so I decided to create one.

After the rain, eviction notices for many

Maybe someone will set up bus trips to New Orleans to find some Fema-financed housing for the displaced folks? They owe us one!

 

[Walt34]

I saw that article earlier today before logging on here. Very sad, both apartment owners and tenants caught between a rock and a hard place. There's no good solution.

 

[kimcdougc]

That is so sad. Where do all these displaced people move? I bet when they are forced to move out of the Houston area, many won't ever return.

 

[aja8888]

That is so sad. Where do all these displaced people move? I bet when they are forced to move out of the Houston area, many won't ever return.

This will be a huge problem in the making. There are around 2,500 apartment complexes in the greater Houston area and most are already at capacity. Fema will be setting up trailers for the displaced, but that's a bandaid on the situation.

During Katrina, Fema ordered apartment complexes and hotels with capacity to take displaced people. What a mess that turned out to be.

I live in the Houston area and let me tell you, the amount of damage here is much greater than snippets on TV can show. This will be a real problem for the next year or so.

And now there is Irma closing in on south Florida. Better hope that never hits full strength.

 

[meierlde]

I didn't know whether to post this in the "Rent vs Buy," "Real Estate Investing" or "Hurricane Harvey" threads so I decided to create one.

After the rain, eviction notices for many

The Houston Chronicle said that a lot of these were first floor apartments that got flooded, so no longer habitable. If the apartment is not safe for habitation, the landlord needs to evict so that they don't violate regulations. It is just like if you owned a one story house that got flooded, you really need to evict yourself until the electrical system, is checked and the mold remidiated as well as dry wall removed and replaced etc.
Here is one notice "These first floors units will not be livable and current conditions pose a significant danger to you," warned one sympathetically worded email to residents of a complex in Fort Bend County. "We regret that this damage has occurred, and we are taking steps as rapidly as possible to repair the damage," said another notice, tacked to the inside of a door in Bellaire.
And a link to the article After the rain, eviction notices for many

Actually then there is little difference between renting and owning if the place gets flooded it is no longer livable until repaired (Flooded places become mold magnets)

Evidently during rebuilding they may find that safety conditions require further evictions to comply with fire and other codes. (happend last year in Baton Rouge, the landlord thought they could fix the lower floors without making it unsafe but opening the walls etc, created safety and fire hazards. (Actually wooden structures with no dry wall burn tremendously fast and hot, see youtube for some examples of buildings before drywall is up burning (less than 10 mins for a structure to fall down)

 

[W2R]

And now there is Irma closing in on south Florida. Better hope that never hits full strength.

I'm not holding my breath on that one. Looks utterly terrifying so far.

 

[Walt34]

I'm not holding my breath on that one. Looks utterly terrifying so far.

I know, it looks bad. And (treading carefully here) national disaster spokespeople are saying that the "full resources" of the U.S. will be available to help hurricane victims. But it is looking like those "full resources" are about to be nearly exhausted on Houston and there won't be much left for whoever winds up in Irma's path.

Those trailer manufacturers can only crank out so many trailers in a given amount of time even at the worst possible quality.

 

[W2R]

I know, it looks bad. And (treading carefully here) national disaster spokespeople are saying that the "full resources" of the U.S. will be available to help hurricane victims. But it is looking like those "full resources" are about to be nearly exhausted on Houston and there won't be much left for whoever winds up in Irma's path.

Those trailer manufacturers can only crank out so many trailers in a given amount of time even at the worst possible quality.

Temporary housing is such a minor part of hurricane recovery though, Walt, and there are many ways in which that need can be addressed. I'll bet the military hospital ships will be there, like they were for Katrina, and the interstates will be repaired too, like they were for Katrina. I read somewhere that 96% of homes in Houston never lost electricity (!) which is indeed a silver lining to the cloud of this catastrophe, and may mean that less infrastructure repair is needed than might otherwise be the case.

Maybe I tend to see the cup half full, but let's wait and see for, oh, say, maybe at least a couple of months for some cleanup and assessment of damage? Then we will have a better idea.

 

[Walt34]

Maybe I tend to see the cup half full, but let's wait and see for, oh, say, maybe at least a couple of months for some cleanup and assessment of damage? Then we will have a better idea.

Could well be. I've never had to deal with the aftermath of a disaster on a scale like Katrina or Houston, or whatever it seems Irma is about to bring. Everything I had to deal with was pretty much buttoned up in a few weeks or so.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Home depot stock went up