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Vista Bonita tenants ponder their futures
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| Rosa Gutierrez and her husband, Esteban Lomas, await their next move. The couple has lived at the Vista Bonita apartment complex in Souteast Houston for nearly 30 years and now have days to leave. |
By YVETTE OROZCO
This Thanksgiving, husband and wife Estaban Lomas and Rosa Gutierrez predicted that even if they were home for the holidays, it will be an empty one.
In fact, the holidays are the furthest thing from their minds.
“I don’t know where we’re going to be tomorrow,” said Lomas on Tuesday.
Lomas and Gutierrez were one of the few remaining residents left at the Vista Bonita Apartments complex on Tally Ho Road in Southeast Houston late Tuesday afternoon, which has been at the center of a dispute over unlivable conditions and the owner’s negligence.
The battle lines were drawn more than a month ago when tenants complained about mold and dilapidated walls and ceilings since Hurricane Ike damaged what had already been a deteriorating housing situation.
With warnings from the city of Houston to correct the situation at Vista Bonita, the owner, Nanik Bhagia, suddenly gave his own notice last Wednesday of an impending, voluntary shut down of the complex, warning residents that they would have to leave by the next Monday.
Monday came, and by late that afternoon, most of the apartment’s residents had left the complex, even as legal representatives from the city assured them that Bhagia’s threats and notices had no legal merit.
The owner’s tack left tenants like Lomas and Gutierrez feeling cheated after living at the Vista Bonita for nearly 30 years and making it home, in spite of the many problems and countless code violations throughout the apartment complex’s history.
Lomas, a currently unemployed carpenter and Gutierrez, who works at Richey Elementary School in maintenance, say they have always paid their rent on time, and now, they say, they feel like they’re being penalized.
“For 27 years, I’ve worked, I paid my rent every month and now I have four days to leave,” said Lomas. “After all these years, he’s just going to throw us out without warning.”
By Tuesday, there were less than 10 families still staying at the complex, leaving the 144-unit and decaying building virtually empty.
Hurricane Ike had exacerbated an already bad situation, with the city of Houston taking notice only after the accidental drowning of a toddler on the property in October due to unsafe fencing leading to the apartment swimming pool.
Vista Bonita was slapped with at least 100 code violations on the day Conar Matthew Rose drowned, and a few weeks later, the owner made his move before the city could condemn the property.
City of Houston representatives could not be reached for comment as of press time.
Lomas and another tenant, Gregoria Hernandez, say threats keep coming from the management office, warning that if they did not vacate the property, they would be escorted off by police.
“That’s what they’re telling us,” said Hernandez. “Who are we supposed to believe?”
Lomas and Gutierrez’s 24-year-old son Ivan, who grew up at the complex and now lives in Friendswood, is trying to help his parents find another apartment, but none they have seen so far that will be ready until the beginning of next year.
“All we ask for is more time,” said his father. “We know we have to leave and we will leave, but after 27 years, I think we deserve more respect and consideration.”
Tenant Theresa Hernandez said city officials and representatives from various federal government agencies had been roaming through the complex in the last few weeks, surveying the situation and possible relocation assistance, but everything is vague and tenants have little faith.
“Even though the lawyer told them that he (the owner) couldn’t throw them out, they’re still worried about being taken away by police if they don’t leave soon,” said Lomas’ son. “They had originally been told that they had to be gone after Sunday, but then he it was extended a few days. He (the owner) basically scared them off.”
For Lomas and Gutierrez, as deadlines keep blurring, this Thanksgiving will be spent around an empty kitchen table, a living room full of boxes waiting to be moved out, and mounting worries.
“We can’t cook without gas because he (owner) cut it off, and we try to hope, but it’s running out,” said Gutierrez.
The holiday is just one more day, said Lomas, to wonder about the next day and the day after that.
“Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, who knows? We could be under the bridge by then,” he said.
In fact, the holidays are the furthest thing from their minds.
“I don’t know where we’re going to be tomorrow,” said Lomas on Tuesday.
Lomas and Gutierrez were one of the few remaining residents left at the Vista Bonita Apartments complex on Tally Ho Road in Southeast Houston late Tuesday afternoon, which has been at the center of a dispute over unlivable conditions and the owner’s negligence.
The battle lines were drawn more than a month ago when tenants complained about mold and dilapidated walls and ceilings since Hurricane Ike damaged what had already been a deteriorating housing situation.
With warnings from the city of Houston to correct the situation at Vista Bonita, the owner, Nanik Bhagia, suddenly gave his own notice last Wednesday of an impending, voluntary shut down of the complex, warning residents that they would have to leave by the next Monday.
Monday came, and by late that afternoon, most of the apartment’s residents had left the complex, even as legal representatives from the city assured them that Bhagia’s threats and notices had no legal merit.
The owner’s tack left tenants like Lomas and Gutierrez feeling cheated after living at the Vista Bonita for nearly 30 years and making it home, in spite of the many problems and countless code violations throughout the apartment complex’s history.
Lomas, a currently unemployed carpenter and Gutierrez, who works at Richey Elementary School in maintenance, say they have always paid their rent on time, and now, they say, they feel like they’re being penalized.
“For 27 years, I’ve worked, I paid my rent every month and now I have four days to leave,” said Lomas. “After all these years, he’s just going to throw us out without warning.”
By Tuesday, there were less than 10 families still staying at the complex, leaving the 144-unit and decaying building virtually empty.
Hurricane Ike had exacerbated an already bad situation, with the city of Houston taking notice only after the accidental drowning of a toddler on the property in October due to unsafe fencing leading to the apartment swimming pool.
Vista Bonita was slapped with at least 100 code violations on the day Conar Matthew Rose drowned, and a few weeks later, the owner made his move before the city could condemn the property.
City of Houston representatives could not be reached for comment as of press time.
Lomas and another tenant, Gregoria Hernandez, say threats keep coming from the management office, warning that if they did not vacate the property, they would be escorted off by police.
“That’s what they’re telling us,” said Hernandez. “Who are we supposed to believe?”
Lomas and Gutierrez’s 24-year-old son Ivan, who grew up at the complex and now lives in Friendswood, is trying to help his parents find another apartment, but none they have seen so far that will be ready until the beginning of next year.
“All we ask for is more time,” said his father. “We know we have to leave and we will leave, but after 27 years, I think we deserve more respect and consideration.”
Tenant Theresa Hernandez said city officials and representatives from various federal government agencies had been roaming through the complex in the last few weeks, surveying the situation and possible relocation assistance, but everything is vague and tenants have little faith.
“Even though the lawyer told them that he (the owner) couldn’t throw them out, they’re still worried about being taken away by police if they don’t leave soon,” said Lomas’ son. “They had originally been told that they had to be gone after Sunday, but then he it was extended a few days. He (the owner) basically scared them off.”
For Lomas and Gutierrez, as deadlines keep blurring, this Thanksgiving will be spent around an empty kitchen table, a living room full of boxes waiting to be moved out, and mounting worries.
“We can’t cook without gas because he (owner) cut it off, and we try to hope, but it’s running out,” said Gutierrez.
The holiday is just one more day, said Lomas, to wonder about the next day and the day after that.
“Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, who knows? We could be under the bridge by then,” he said.
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