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Houston Families Face Rent Demands On Flooded Properties

Doha Madani

Some families in the Houston area being asked to pay rent, with late fees, after Hurricane Harvey caused catastrophic flooding to hit southeast Texas and drove them from their homes, The Guardian reported.

“Our landlords say we have to pay rent and late fees and every day it is going up,” Rocio Fuentes, of Pasadena, Texas, told the newspaper. “We are paying rent for somewhere we can’t live in. They said, ‘You aren’t the only ones in this situation,’ but what are we supposed to do? We don’t have any money. We don’t have anything.”

A spokeswoman for Houston city government said officials were aware of such situations, but that state law would have to resolve them.

Under Texas statutes, either a tenant or a landlord can break a lease for residences deemed “totally unusable.” If a property is partially useable, a court would have to determine if rental costs could be reduced.

Meanwhile, hundreds of residents who were forced to evacuate a flooded apartment complex in Katy, Texas, have been given eviction notices, The Houston Chronicle reported.

The residents have been given less than a week to retrieve whatever property they can, a letter from the property manager said. The letter also said rental charges for the last few days of August will be refunded, according to the Chronicle.

Disputes between landlord and tenants are among the first conflicts to emerge in the wake of a hurricane, lawyer Saundra Brown, a disaster manager at Lone Star Legal Aid, told the newspaper.

“Right now there are going to be many landlord-tenant issues: people who don’t think they should give back the security deposit for flooded properties,” she said. “There will be people who will try to kick out their tenants because their brother-in-law needs some place to stay. There’s going to be a severe shortage of rental space in the community.”

Nancy McBride collects items from her flooded kitchen as she returned to her home on Sept. 1, 2017, for the first time since floods caused by Hurricane Harvey inundated Houston.<i></i> (Photo: Rick Wilking / Reuters)
Nancy McBride collects items from her flooded kitchen as she returned to her home on Sept. 1, 2017, for the first time since floods caused by Hurricane Harvey inundated Houston. (Photo: Rick Wilking / Reuters)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency expects nearly one million applications for aid stemming from Hurricane Harvey, according to The Dallas Morning News.

FEMA has used vacant hotel rooms to help house 53,630 Texas residents with no place to go, CBS News reported Monday.

Bob Howard, a FEMA spokesman, said the agency is weighing the use of mobile homes as temporary residences for others. Also, displaced residents able to find an apartment on their own can receive two months of paid rent through FEMA and might qualify.

“FEMA is going to be [in Texas] for years,” FEMA administrator Brock Long told CNN. “This disaster is going to be a landmark event.”

The bulk of a $7.85 billion initial Harvey relief package that President Donald Trump has requested from Congress is earmarked for FEMA.

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People&nbsp;begin cleaning up the damage to their homes&nbsp;after torrential rains caused widespread flooding during Hurricane Harvey.
People begin cleaning up the damage to their homes after torrential rains caused widespread flooding during Hurricane Harvey.
A Dickinson resident hugs a friend who came to help her remove possessions damaged due to flooding.
A Dickinson resident hugs a friend who came to help her remove possessions damaged due to flooding.
Floodwaters have receded from this home, but the damage is done.
Floodwaters have receded from this home, but the damage is done.
Family members remove debris and damaged items from their father's home.
Family members remove debris and damaged items from their father's home.
Volunteers from Performance Contractors help co-worker Cornell Beasley clear up the&nbsp;damage to his home.
Volunteers from Performance Contractors help co-worker Cornell Beasley clear up the damage to his home.
People in face masks begin cleaning out&nbsp;their property.
People in face masks begin cleaning out their property.
Books, furniture and other belongings are set to dry outside.
Books, furniture and other belongings are set to dry outside.
Lorenzo Salina helps a neighbor remove damaged walls.
Lorenzo Salina helps a neighbor remove damaged walls.
Volunteers and students from C.E. King High School help to clean up the school.
Volunteers and students from C.E. King High School help to clean up the school.
Debris and possessions are piled&nbsp;at the curb.
Debris and possessions are piled at the curb.
Bryan Parson (left), Chris Gaspard (center) and Derek Pelt (right) remove ruined items from Parson's home.
Bryan Parson (left), Chris Gaspard (center) and Derek Pelt (right) remove ruined items from Parson's home.
Volunteers place water damaged school furniture and text books&nbsp;on the front lawn of&nbsp;C.E. King High School.
Volunteers place water damaged school furniture and text books on the front lawn of C.E. King High School.
Lillie Roberts talks with family members on the phone as contractor Jerry Garza begins the process of repairing her home.
Lillie Roberts talks with family members on the phone as contractor Jerry Garza begins the process of repairing her home.
Cornell Beasley joins other residents as they dry and toss out their possessions.
Cornell Beasley joins other residents as they dry and toss out their possessions.
Furniture&nbsp;that was&nbsp;destroyed in the flood&nbsp;is piled&nbsp;on the side of the street.
Furniture that was destroyed in the flood is piled on the side of the street.
A man power-washes the driveway&nbsp;of his once flooded home.
A man power-washes the driveway of his once flooded home.
Stacey House holds up&nbsp;her daughter's volleyball portrait, which was damaged during&nbsp;the hurricane.
Stacey House holds up her daughter's volleyball portrait, which was damaged during the hurricane.
Willy Coronado helps a neighbor to clean a house.
Willy Coronado helps a neighbor to clean a house.
Missy Givens inspects the water level in her home.
Missy Givens inspects the water level in her home.
People try to&nbsp;repair a truck that was submerged in floodwater.
People try to repair a truck that was submerged in floodwater.
Derek Pelt removes a wall at&nbsp;his friend Bryan Parson's house.
Derek Pelt removes a wall at his friend Bryan Parson's house.
People on cleanup duty look around a damaged property.
People on cleanup duty look around a damaged property.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.