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| Landlords Say Blanco Order Worsens Housing Shortage | |
| 2005-10-15 | |
| She's trying to get the deadbeat Dems back for their votes - G*d forbid those apartments should go to people with initiative and energy ... they might vote Republican. Landlords in the New Orleans area say they have thousands of apartments that could be rented to meet the crying need for housing in the region, but executive orders by Gov. Kathleen Blanco are preventing them from taking the legal steps to free up the space. The problem has become a hot-button issue in the business community, which is groping for housing options for employees and families willing to move back into the area. Several apartment managers say they have waiting lists of hundreds of people seeking a place to live. "Government officials continue to report on the housing shortage while failing to acknowledge the hundreds and hundreds of apartments that stand vacant or in need of repairs, yet remain inaccessible to landlords due to the governor's order," said Suzanne Rouse, a manager at Tonti Management, a Metairie firm. Blanco spokesman Roderick Hawkins said the governor could amend her executive order or that the state Supreme Court could resolve the issue. The controversy stems from a suspension of legal deadlines ordered by Blanco after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the state and left court systems in the New Orleans area in disarray. The first order Sept. 6 basically delayed legal actions until Sept. 25 on a broad scope of malpractice and civil cases, including eviction proceedings, and was generally greeted as a sensible step to prevent confusion and to protect the rights of parties in lawsuits. State officials also were concerned about the potential for price gouging by landlords who might cancel old leases and replace them with much higher rents. Blanco later extended the order until Oct. 25. Meanwhile, many tenants who fled the New Orleans area have not returned or contacted their landlords. Rental managers have been unable even to begin the legal remedy of the eviction process, in which tenants and landlords would be permitted to present their cases. Apartment managers who want to repair damaged properties have in some cases been legally hamstrung and unable to move out people's possessions or take control for the rehabilitation. "The governor may have intended well at the time this order was issued," Rouse said. But now, weeks later, "this order is doing greater harm to Louisiana citizens here now looking for housing . . . and to housing providers trying to provide it." In response to "many inquiries" about the issue, state Attorney General Charles Foti wrote a letter Oct. 3 to judges, justices of the peace and clerks of courts emphasizing that Blanco's order "has the effect of suspending all eviction proceedings until Oct. 25." Foti also asked the state Supreme Court to consider a special rule for evictions, according to spokesmen for Foti and the court. They would not elaborate on the intent of the request. The Supreme Court is considering the request, spokesman Robert Gunn said Friday. The Apartment Association of Greater New Orleans Inc. wrote Blanco on Sept. 28 asking her to reconsider her order, pointing out that tenants couldn't be reached, that their belongings were being destroyed by moisture and mold, and that the units were further deteriorating by allowing the items to remain. "Owners are left behind with abandoned, wet, molding belongings from residents," wrote Tammy Esponge, an association executive. "As you can imagine, all resident contact information has changed, (and) emergency numbers cannot be reached, therefore we are unable to mitigate damage as the insurance companies suggest." Esponge said mold is attracting insects and causing bad odors and severe moisture in the units. "We are asking that you work with the multifamily (housing) industry and help us come up with a reasonable solution for owners to regain possession of their units," Esponge wrote. Esponge said she has not heard back from Blanco. Larry Schedler, a broker specializing in the multifamily housing market, said he believes that 20 percent of the local apartment market has been destroyed, mostly the 7,000 units in eastern New Orleans. But in most apartment complexes, probably half the units have slight or no damage, and yet the landlords are facing the brick wall of Blanco's order in removing tenants' possessions or repairing the properties, Schedler said. Several apartment managers in the area reported a similar situation and said they had long lists of people who have signed up to rent apartments as soon as the units become available. Henry Shane, chairman of Favrot & Shane, which has about 8,000 units, mostly on the east bank of Jefferson Parish, said he has 1,800 units abandoned in which he would like to implement the eviction process. He, too, wrote Blanco asking to "give me control of my property and help me protect the welfare of the residents (in undamaged units) living next to this stuff." Stonebridge Manor in Gretna has a waiting list of more than 300 people. Shane's company estimates that out of the 50,000-unit market of apartments in complexes of 100 units or more, "there are probably 20,000 to 30,000 units sitting in the same situation." The housing shortage is presenting a serious dilemma for local employers trying to get back on their feet. "The housing issue is one of the most difficult yet critical issues to get the whole parish back," said Alan Donner, vice president of business development for East Jefferson General Hospital, which is open but struggling to find lodging for staff and their families. "There are limited resources, and the demand far exceeds the supply." The hospital opened a trailer park with 66 units in River Ridge and is renting 72 rooms at the Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans, but still has a "couple hundred families with unmet needs," Donner said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency told the hospital that it would get preferential treatment on housing, but the assistance has been "slow and trickling," and various promises "have evaporated," Donner said. Adelina Morris, a dietitian assistant at the hospital who evacuated to Dallas and wants to come back to work, said she has looked in vain for a place to rent while her Carrollton home is repaired. She wants to bring her extended family back to New Orleans. "What am I supposed to do?" Morris said.
But Semmes Favrot, a private practice attorney for Favrot and Shane, said that although he has sympathy for the plight of evacuated tenants, six weeks after the storm should be ample time for them to contact landlords and state their intentions about returning or not. | |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #6 Gov Blankout has had several fits of paralysis - and each exacerbated some aspect of the disaster. That she can't seem to figure anything out on her own, and needs an external push at each hurdle to get off the dime, proves to me that she's also surrounded herself with equally clueless and gutless people. For an executive, that's usually fatal. In LA, however, I doubt it will mean shit - all of their Govt appears to be the same. LA is the US quagmire the press has been looking for so desperately. Gridlock at the state and local executive levels and corruption throughout the system. I loath putting one thin dime into that morass without removing the massive systemic incompetence from office, first. We can't trust them to do anything but line their pockets. It seems to be their only identifiable skill. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-10-15 09:25 |
| #5 It's all Bush's fault for blowing up the levees. Aliens from the mothership told me that. |
| Posted by: Calypso Louie 2005-10-15 15:04 |
| #4 NO was a French colony. Need one say more? |
| Posted by: Shuns Pheack8314 2005-10-15 12:10 |
| #3 I grew up in Louisiana, and still have family there. Most of my relatives live north of Alexandria, in the northern (and poorer) part of the state. The New Orleans/Baton Rouge areas have half the state's population, and control politics. The northern half of the state would like a change, but the only options are to either become part of an even more disfunctional state (Arkansas - which gave us the Clintons), or a minority part of Texas. Neither is palatable. Of course with all the changes taking place in the state due to Katrina, New Orleans may end up being the third largest city in the state, instead of the largest. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2005-10-15 11:57 |
| #2 #1. But, dot com, it's all Bush's fault doncha know? Seriously, if this order was needed at all then it should at least be rescinded as areas are opened up by the city for reoccupation. Immediately, upon clearance to reoccupy a zone then eviction could begin. Eviction is typically a long process and I imagine protections are built into existing law for abandoned property. Also I share your chagrin at the very thought of allowing the Louisana pols access to the US treasury. I was just reading about a proposed 2% budget cut across the board, including the Defense Department, to pay for Katrina. Can you imagine that? |
| Posted by: GK 2005-10-15 11:24 |
| #1 "What am I supposed to do?" Morris said. Maybe give up on returning to New Orleans? Outside Mississippi, I suspect any place else will be statistically better for you and your family, your future and properity. Think of it as an opportunity, not a problem. Opportunity is what drives millions of people to come here every year with just what they can carry on their backs. They obviously see something you don't. |
| Posted by: Shereting Omager3789 2005-10-15 09:25 |