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1 month ago
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Squatters taking over dozens of unoccupied properties have left Texas homeowners feeling overwhelmed with safety concerns.
The Texas Central Railway, in the past four years, has bought about 41 houses in White Oak Falls with the intention to raze them and use the land to build a high-speed railway that would run between Dallas and Houston.
But longtime residents of the area have revealed that instead of being bulldozed, these multi-bedroom homes have been taken over by squatters.
One property has particularly worried locals, with 'sex house' being scrawled across the front door.
Resident Maria Arzola expressed her worry and told Click2Houston: 'I don't feel safe for my family, for my grandkids, not even for myself. It's not fair for me. I pay my fees and I pay my taxes.'
White Oak Falls homeowners have been left riddled with safety concerns as squatters continue to turn dozens of unoccupied properties into 'sex houses'
Images show most of the company-owned properties in an extreme state of disrepair with smashed walls, shattered glass and entry doors broken into pieces
Images show most of the company-owned properties in an extreme state of disrepair with smashed walls, shattered glass and entry doors broken into pieces.
After months of living in uncertainty, White Oak Falls locals that are now attempting to sell their homes and move away are stuck in the area.
Nestor Cortez, one such homeowner who was not ready to sell a few years ago to Texas Central Railroad as he had recently moved in, now wants to leave, but moving is too expensive.
'Yeah, when I said I was ready to sell, they weren't buying any more houses,' he told the publication.
The Texas Central Railway has bought about 41 houses in White Oak Falls with the intention to raze them and use the land to build a high-speed railway but now all of them have been left broken
Squatting is legal in the US and eviction orders can only be issued after a property owner pursues judicial action in Texas
According to Texas laws, a squatter is somebody who is living on a land or in a building that is either unoccupied, abandoned, or foreclosed without the legal consent of the actual property owner.
Squatting is legal in the US and eviction orders can only be issued after a property owner pursues judicial action in Texas.
Due to this, the Homeowners' Association for White Oak Falls or the police cannot evict the 'tenants' police without a court order - which has further been confirmed by the association's President.
'We, as the HOA, have been ineffective in the sense that there are still squatters in the properties. However it's not due to lack of effort,' Scott Woodard, HOA President told Click2Houston.
The Dallas-based company had initially acquired acres of land in hopes to build a 240-mile high-speed railway with one stop in between Houston and Dallas
Woodard further added that his team was not happy about the situation and a 'lawyer for the HOA and an attorney for the Texas Central Railroad are in contact about the problem'.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the Texas Central Railway for a comment.
The Dallas-based company had initially acquired acres of land in hopes to build a 240-mile high-speed railway with one stop in between Houston and Dallas but has been facing numerous issues, with most notable one being the resignation of CEO Carlos Aguilar in 2022.
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