Squatters at dozens of vacant properties have left Texas homeowners overwhelmed with safety concerns.
The Texas Central Railway has purchased about 41 homes in White Oak Falls over the past four years with the intention of demolishing them and using the land to build a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston.
But long-time residents of the area have revealed that instead of being demolished, these multi-bedroom homes have been occupied by squatters.
One property has particularly worried locals, with the legend “sex house” scrawled on the front door.
Neighbor Maria Arzola expressed her concern and said Click on Houston‘I don’t feel safe for my family, for my grandchildren, even for myself. It’s not fair to me. I pay my dues and I pay my taxes.’
White Oak Falls homeowners have been plagued with safety concerns as squatters continue to turn dozens of vacant properties into “sex houses.”
The images show most of the company’s properties in an extreme state of disrepair, with smashed walls, broken glass and entrance doors smashed into pieces.
After months of living in uncertainty, White Oak Falls residents now trying to sell their homes and move are stuck in the area.
Nestor Cortez, one of those owners who wasn’t ready to sell to Texas Central Railroad a few years ago because he had recently moved, now wants to leave, but moving is too expensive.
“Yes, when I said I was ready to sell, they didn’t buy any more houses,” he told the publication.
The images show most of the company’s properties in an extreme state of disrepair with smashed walls, broken glass and entrance doors smashed into pieces.
The Texas Central Railway purchased about 41 homes in White Oak Falls with the intention of tearing them down and using the land to build a high-speed railroad, but all of them have now been destroyed.
Under Texas law, a squatter is someone who lives on land or in a building that is vacant, abandoned, or foreclosed on without the legal consent of the property’s actual owner.
Squatting is legal in the U.S. and eviction orders can only be issued after a property owner files a lawsuit in Texas.
Because of this, the White Oak Falls Homeowners Association or the police cannot evict “tenants” without a court order, which has been further confirmed by the association’s president.
“We as a Homeowners Association have been ineffective in the sense that there are still squatters on the properties. However, it’s not due to a lack of effort,” Scott Woodard, president of the Homeowners Association, told Click2Houston.
Squatting is legal in the United States and eviction orders can only be issued after a property owner takes legal action in Texas.
The Dallas-based company had initially acquired acres of land with hopes of building a 240-mile high-speed railway with one stop between Houston and Dallas.
Woodard added that his team was not happy with the situation and that “an attorney for the HOA and an attorney for Texas Central Railroad are in contact regarding the issue.”
DailyMail.com has contacted Texas Central Railway for comment.
The Dallas-based company had initially acquired acres of land in hopes of building a 240-mile high-speed rail line with one stop between Houston and Dallas, but has faced numerous problems, most notably the resignation of CEO Carlos Aguilar in 2022.