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New Orleans Landlords After Katrina
Posted by Clare
(8788 views)      [E-Mail link]
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[Get-Rich-Quick]
[Mean People] |
| Following is a letter I wrote to a landlord that I think you ALL need to read. Something has to give with these rent increases, before despair starts taking more lives. I want you all to understand that this is not meant as an attack. This is a plea to those of you who have doubled and tripled your rents since katrina to PLEASE reconsider what you're doing. Thank youfor reading the following: |
"Before hurricane Katrina I paid $775 for a nice shotgun apartment. It had central air, hardwood floors, indoor laundry room, one and a half baths, pocket doors, high ceilings with fans. I had nice neighbors. I had a private backyard with a huge night blooming jasmine vine that coverd the whole fence. Lizards lived in it. After the storm, in October when they finally let my zipcode back in to see what was going on in our homes, my landlady said she'd found a buyer for the house and that she wanted me out immediately. I was stunned. I'd lived there taking care of her property for five years. At the same time I was finding out that my home had survived both the storm, and the flood, and that I could come home, I was finding out that NO in fact, I couldn't come home, and the money that FEMA had granted me, had to be used then and there to go find a rental truck and get out. With no where else to go in New Orleans, and the beautiful dog I'd raised from a baby, dying of cancer in my rental car, my job gone, and my mind in a state of shock, I did as she asked. My neighbors cried while they helped load the truck. Even my mailman cried. The landlady walked up and down the street lying to anyone who would listen, trying to claim she hadn't evicted me. Saying I had WANTED to go! My heart was breaking and everybody knew it. The only place where I knew anyone outside of New Orleans was in Kansas City. I drove that truck up to Kansas City in a complete haze. I lived in a motel until I found a little apartment. My dog died just before Christmas. I'm all alone. I haven't found any work. My money has run out. I called home to talk to my neighbors because I was so homesick over the holidays. They told me she never sold the house. She doubled the rent, and put someone with more money in there. She never once sat down and said, "let's figure out what we can do". Greed is an ugly thing, and sometimes it ruins lives. I feel so displaced. I wander around this apartment weeping most of the time. I used to love my life in New Orleans. Now I look at craigslist and I can't even comprehend what anyone is thinking. I used to wish I could live on Bayou St. John. Now I can't even touch it. A tiny little apartment for $900 a month. And you're the cheapest one. Who ARE these people that are the landlord/ladies in New Orleans now? Surely they aren't New Orleanians...how could anyone from New Orleans who's gone through this disaster alongside the rest of us, do this to their fellow inhabitants? We're on our knees out here. We want to come home. Where do you all think the money is going to come from, and what do you think the city will be like when you're through with it?" |
Author Unknown From NewOrleans.craigslist.org |
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| Posted by wizeGurl on 2006-01-02 16:04:20 | | This is sick. I know it's happening, but it's sick. Where is the city government in preventing these kinds of abuses? |
Why?
Posted by David Hurley on 2006-01-03 18:14:51 | | I understand this persons plight. While we do live in a freemarket and rents are bringing top dollar, what this landlord did is despicable. I firmly believe that what this person did will be paid back in some form or another. I could have raised the rates I charge my clients after Katrina but chose not to do so because I care about the people here and know that they are suffering as many here are. My costs have gone up dramatically due to increased gas cost but I have chosen to eat those costs until we as a group can recover. To the Landlady, you will get what you deserve. |
| Posted by Cuban Exile on 2006-08-17 23:01:52 | | Renters as they say; don't have a leg to stand on. You sir are acting like a communist and that is no bs. Wake up, pull your moonbat head out of your ass & get a job, go to the humane society & adopt a new pet. Maybe you will be able to own your own place someday and come to know what it means to be a homeowner rather than a renter. If you can't do that, then maybe you can move to Venezuela & join Hugo Chavez in his commie country. |
A New Orlenian
Posted by Anonymous on 2006-09-03 21:09:31 | | I can't even immagine what you're going through. The only thing that keeps me going is the fact that I'm home. Three of my friends have had to leave town because of the increase in rent or improper evictions. Oh and "Mr Cuban in Exile" you have no idea what you're talking about. Idiot! |
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