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Apartment residents in Texas City could be evicted for the holidays
Property owners say they could face eviction right before Christmas thanks to Texas City leaders.
TEXAS CITY - "I'm going to be out there living on the streets," said Willie Wilson. "There's a trash can around the corner I guess that's where they want us to go stay."
Wilson has lived in this Texas City apartment complex at 123 North Westward for 20 years.
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"I like living here because I raised my children right here in these apartments," he said.
"My family has owned this complex since the 1960s and I bought it in early 2001," said Thomas Rhone.
We first told you about Rhone's fight with Texas City last October.
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He was one of several property owners making the same claim.
The city was trying to take their properties in an overzealous attempt to revitalize certain parts of the city.
"They're building these cases against landowners then giving them the inability to correct it and taking their property from them," said attorney Valerie Jewett.
Rhone won his abatement hearing in Municipal Court.
Now the city is suing him in District Court saying he has no occupancy permit for the complex.
"They are trying to get this property at whatever cost it takes to get all the tenants out of the building and have me go into bankruptcy and possible foreclosure so they can get my property for pennies on the dollar," said Rhone.
Rhone is down to just 7 tenants that the city says have to be out by the holidays.
"There's no way we can move that quick right before the holidays," said resident Marcus Vaughn.
"They're going to be at home with their families and we're going to be looking for somewhere else to go somewhere else to stay that's not right."
"Most of the people that are here some of them are sick and elderly," said resident Kathy Rivers. "They're comfortable and they've been here and it would be just awful for them to have to relocate."
Rhone's attorney plans to file an injunction n hopes of staving off the evictions.
We called the City Attorney for Texas City for a response but have yet to hear back.