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Families Search For Some Place To Go After Apartments Close

By Elizabeth Scarborough

POSTED: Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Families living in a southwest Houston apartment complex were forced out of their homes Tuesday but some said they had no place to go, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Sherrisa Auchstetter was folding up the last of her belongings, but she said she was still not sure where her family would call home after midnight.

"I just started packing and putting my stuff in storage," said Auchstetter.

Midnight was the deadline her apartment complex owner gave in a final warning notice on Tuesday. She first learned the complex was closing on Nov. 25.

"I have no place to go," said Auchstetter. "I have two children. I made sure I got them to school this morning and I don't know where we'll go tonight."

She showed KPRC Local 2 around her Schumaker Square apartment. There are holes in the ceiling that are damage from Hurricane Ike, still not fixed. In a vacant downstairs apartment, Auchstetter pointed out raw sewage spilling out of the sink. Bright orange notices from Houston Public Works Department litter the complex.

KPRC Local 2 tried to reach the owner, who lives in Florida, but got his lawyer on the phone instead.

"He cannot allow people to live there in unsafe conditions, holidays or not," attorney Wyatt Snider said.

Jodi Silva with Neighborhood Protection said the complex could be fixed.

"We're just asking him to bring it up to a minimum standard," said Silva. "Nothing we've done forced him to close."

But according to Snider, the owner doesn't have enough money for repairs.

"He has not received a penny of insurance money," said Snider. Patty Smith said she has been taking baths with no hot water for three months

"What I do is fill up with cold water, then pour boiling water in," said Smith. "It takes about an hour."

She said it's like living in the wild west. She said there was no way she could be out by midnight.

"There's just not enough time to plan," Smith said.

According to city officials, the owner does have a right to close his complex down. His attorney pointed out that he gave more time for the tenants to vacate than required by state law.
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