Squatters have taken over dozens of vacant properties and homeowners in Texas are concerned about their safety.
Over the past four years, the Texas Central Railway has purchased approximately 41 homes in White Oak Falls with the intention of demolishing them and using the land to build a high-speed line between Dallas and Houston.
But residents who have lived in the area for a long time have reported that the multi-bedroom homes have not been demolished, but have been taken over by squatters.
One building in particular worried local residents: the front door was marked ‘sex house’.
Resident Maria Arzola expressed her concern and said Click2Houston: ‘I don’t feel safe for my family, for my grandchildren, not even for myself. It’s not fair to me. I pay my tuition and I pay my taxes.’
Homeowners in White Oak Falls are concerned about their safety as squatters continue to turn dozens of vacant properties into ‘sex houses’
Images show most of the company’s properties in an extreme state of disrepair, with walls destroyed, glass broken and access doors smashed
Photos show most of the company’s properties in an extreme state of disrepair, with walls destroyed, glass shattered and access doors broken.
After months of living in uncertainty, residents of White Oak Falls are now trying to sell their homes and relocate and are stuck in the area.
Nestor Cortez, one of those homeowners who wasn’t ready to sell his Texas Central Railroad home a few years ago because he had only recently moved in, now wants to leave, but moving is too expensive.
“Yeah, when I said I was ready to sell, they stopped buying houses,” he told the publication.
The Texas Central Railway purchased about 41 homes in White Oak Falls with the intention of demolishing them and using the land to build a high-speed line, but now they are all demolished.
Squatting is legal in the US and eviction notices can only be issued after a property owner initiates legal proceedings in Texas
Under Texas law, a squatter is a person who lives on land or in a building that is uninhabited, abandoned, or foreclosed upon without the legal consent of the property owner.
Squatting is legal in the US and eviction notices can only be issued after the property owner initiates legal proceedings in Texas.
This means that the White Oak Falls Homeowners Association and the police cannot evict the “tenants” without a court order, as confirmed by the association’s president.
“We, as an HOA, have been ineffective in the sense that there are still squatters in the properties. But that’s not for lack of trying,” Scott Woodard, HOA President, told Click2Houston.
The Dallas-based company initially acquired acres of land in hopes of building a 240-mile, one-stop high-speed line between Houston and Dallas
Woodard added that his team was not happy with the situation and that “an attorney for the homeowners association and an attorney for the Texas Central Railroad are in contact regarding the issue.”
DailyMail.com has contacted the Texas Central Railway for comment.
The Dallas-based company had initially acquired acres of land in hopes of building a 240-mile, one-stop high-speed line between Houston and Dallas. But the company has struggled with a number of issues, most notably the resignation of CEO Carlos Aguilar in 2022.