'We don't have anything': landlords demand rent on flooded Houston homes

[Julian Englis]

Source: The Guardian

Rocio Fuentes weighed up the cost of getting some new sofas for her new apartment in Pasadena, Texas, and decided the family budget could just about stretch to it. Just one month after moving in, Hurricane Harvey swept through and the Fuenteses were left not only with the ruined furniture but also an ongoing rental demand for a dwelling they had to flee.

“At first we didn’t think it would be that bad, but then the water came through the wall and up through the carpet,” Fuentes said. “Once we saw the water wasn’t going to stop, we left.”
-----------------------------
Fuentes, her husband Jaime and their five children, ages ranging from seven months to 14 years, were plucked from the floodwaters by her mother, who arrived in a truck. They are now crammed into her sister’s apartment and with no insurance have little idea where they will live next. Jaime is unable to earn money because his construction job has been paused due to the flooding.

But while everything has changed for this family, they are still expected to pay for their abandoned home.


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/04/hurricane-harvey-landlords-demand-rent-for-flooded-homes

[Baitball Blogger]

1. If the home is uninhabitable, the contract between tenant and renter is broken.

This is the kind of thing that the Feds should be pursuing.

[FarPoint]

2. That is exactly what I was thinking.

Contract now void.

[hurple]

11. should be

But, even if it's not, if the renter just stops paying there's no much a landlord can do but keep their belongings and kick them out. So, if their stuff is already ruined by the flood and the rental property is unlivable... no big loss to the renter.

[Honeycombe8]

5. That's what I was thinking. But the renter still has to remove his belongings.

You can't just leave your stuff there and move in with relatives, and expect the owner to have to deal with all the belongings left by renters. Will he be sued if he trashes everything, including grandma's old watch?

As for becoming uninhabitable, it depends on what the lease says. Since this is Houston, there may be a flood clause.

The owner can't fix the apartments with all those belongings still in there. If a renter is abandoning an apartment, they have to remove their stuff, or leave everything to be thrown away (and expect to get a judgment against them for the cost of removing their belongings).

The owner has problems, too. He needs the income from those apartments, and is stuck when he has renters who wll neither pay nor remove their belongings so the owner can fix it up and rent it again.

Each of us is responsible for taking care of our belongings in the event of a flood. It's tough on everyone.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. There has to be a grace period.

For one thing, is Houston ready to rebuild? I'm sure there are steps for preparation, like clean-up, restoration of electricity and water.

[Honeycombe8]

8. It depends on what the lease says. This may be taken care of in the lease.

If it's not taken care of in the lease, then it would reasonable to give a 30 day grace period. But maybe not legally required, which is the crux of the matter.

[cstanleytech]

12. Yes but most of their stuff now is essentially garbage and the owners insurance

(assuming the owner was not a cheapskate who decided not to buy flood insurance) should pay to remove things like debris from the storm and if the owner did go the cheap route then like other home owners the cost to remove things like debris from the storm and the ruined carpets and other things damaged by the flooding should be on the owners head shouldnt it?

[Honeycombe8]

13. The owner's ins. is not responsible for someone else's property.

That's like someone getting in an accident w/o having insurance, then expecting the other car's insurance to pay for your car's damage, because you don't have insurance. Then saying, "Well, it's not my fault if the other car doesn't have good insurance." When it's not the other car's responsibility at all for YOUR loss; YOU are the one without insurance.

The renters should have renter's ins. I understand that most renters don't. I didn't, when I rented. But that is the reality: if you don't have renter's insurance, that's YOUR loss. Not someone else's.

Depends on what the lease says.

I can understand being overwhelmed. So is the owner. They all are. It's not right for people to push their problems off onto others, who are ALSO affected by the disaster.

If I were the landlord, I would hire someone (if I could afford it), to haul the renter's stuff out, as soon as the 30 day notice period expires (leases have 30 days notice), trash it all, then sue the renter in court to recoup some of the cost of hiring someone to clean up the renter's mess that he abandoned on my property, and sue for the last month's rent he didn't pay.

If, however, the renter comes and gets or removes most of his belongings, in a good faith effort to take care of his business, I'll let it slide.

Good begets good. Screwing me over begets a day in court.

[Bengus81]

3. Tell that landlord to shove it or see you in court........

Wouldn't matter if it were flood water or an electrical system that was bad and dangerous. If it's uninhabitable (and the City will back them up) then the rent stops and the rental contract is null and void when they leave.

[Honeycombe8]

4. This is rough. So sad and tragic. But legal? Maybe so.

Until they get their belongings out of the place, normally a renter is still obligated for the rent, even if they are physically not there.

It depends on what their lease says. I wonder if there's a disaster clause? If the place becomes unhabitable, such that they are forced to leave, then maybe that frees them from having to pay rent? If so, they still have to get their stuff out of there and not leave it for the owner to do that. It's not the owner's obligation to remove their furniture, clothing, pots and pans and other belongings.

The owner is in a fix, too, just like the renters. The owner is going to file an ins. claim, if he had flood insurance. And then has to start fixing the place. But he can't do that, with the renters' stuff in it.

They need to talk to the owner and come to an agreement about what to do. It's a serious problem for everyone.

[Major Nikon]

6. Texas is much friendlier to landlords

The laws are stacked against renters. So yes, it very much depends on what the lease says.

[Honeycombe8]

9. Imagine yourself having rented out a room in your house.

It's been flooded. Water has receded. Your tenant has left all his stuff and moved in with relatives. You have to start tearing out the molded, wet walls, flooring, ceilings. But that room is full of furniture, clothes, and other stuff. In order to renovate the house, you have to remove everything.

So...who does that? Is the renter still a renter? If so, he has to pay the rent. Rent doesn't go away because you lose your job. But if he won't be coming back, does that mean you have the right to have all that stuff removed? Maybe not. It's not your stuff. If you have to hire someone to remove his stuff, shouldn't the tenant pay for that?

Just because you rent from someone doesn't mean you can walk away, leaving the owner with a bigger problem because you leave all your junk behind.

Each of us is responsible, at the very least, for our own belongings. You can't just stick other people with your own problems. They have their own problems during this time.

[hurple]

10. as a landlord...

Renters walk away and leave mounds of stuff behind, and worse, *all the time.* That's why there are these things called "security deposits," to help pay for the cleanup/repairs.

If I was a renter in TX right now, in the wake of Harvey. I've lost all my belongings already, that stuff is never going to be recoverable, so I'd just pack in and move on. No way I'd keep paying rent on an unlivable house.

[Binkie The Clown]

14. I'd invite the landlord to come by and evict me. nt

[christx30]

16. They'lol move your stuff to the curb,

or one of those big disposal bins, and start tearing out the bad walls and floors. Most wouldn't think twice.

[TexasBushwhacker]

15. The management company of my complex has already

terminated everyone's leases, whether one's apartment is flooded or not. If your apartment is flooded, you have to move. They will relocate you to a dry unit in this complex, a unit in anoger one of their complexes or you're free to move to other housing altogether, in which you'll get a refund of your deposit on the spot. In some cases they are refunding part of August's rent too.

But my side of the complex is dry, so I can stay.

[WinkyDink]

17. "It's going great! Have a great time!"

You know whom.