Many mid and south Jefferson County residents who are not homeowners are finding themselves receiving eviction notices after Harvey dumped over 50 inches of rain across the area just two short weeks ago. The rain flooded a majority of area housing. To add fuel to the fire, landlords are only giving five days for residents to vacate their residence.

Using the “Termination Notice Due to Natural Disaster” to terminate the lease, and quoting Paragraph 26 of the TAA Lease Contract as well as Section 92.054 of the Texas Property Code gives landlords the right to evict residents if the rental premises as a practical matter has become totally unusable for residential purposes after a casualty loss, and the casualty loss was not caused by the negligence of the resident, a member of the resident’s family, or a guest or invitee of the resident. Paragraph 26 of the TAA Lease Contract also states the landlords may terminate the lease “by giving the resident at least five days written notice.

I understand that an individual cannot live in a residence that could potentially be a health hazard due to growing mold or other unhealthy issues, and the landlord does not want to be held responsible for the health issues that may occur to the resident. There simply has to be a better way than throwing hundreds of citizens into the streets with very little chance of finding another location to reside. Yes, we are talking about possible homelessness for many residents across South and Southeast Texas.

But what is more concerning is that Texas law allows this to happen.

Under the law’s current wording, which favors the landlord, children, elderly individuals, families and individuals may very well be finding themselves sleeping in cars, shelters, carports or anywhere else they can find shelter until suitable housing presents itself.

Not all landlords are throwing renters into the streets. Some caring individuals and/or companies are helping their resident’s find temporary housing. But as housing is limited during this time, it’s a first come first served basis, and going fast.

When a disaster hits, it is then we begin to see how the decisions of our past truly affect us. This is especially the case with Texas legislators. Representatives were voted into office to speak on your behalf and to protect you through creating and passing new laws for the better. However with this one, legislators have created a one sided law that will definitely put some individuals and/or families on the streets.

Laws such as this should not be one sided. And residents across Texas should see to it that this is changed. For if the law is not changed, another disaster will cause the same issue.