After Governor Edwards' decision to suspend evictions until September 24, some apartment complexes in Tangipahoa Parish are still urging renters to leave.
Jessie Abbott rents a home in Hammond. He told KATC that his apartment complex deemed the buildings unliveable and insisted residents leave. Abbott says when he got home on Tuesday, his landlord had called the police in an attempt to have certain residents escorted off of the premises.
"Not all of us are unliveable, but we going through it, but those people, they could've put them somewhere else," Abbott said. "But they called the police to get these people evicted out like that? That is wrong, that is dead wrong."
Over in Ponchatoula, Gwendolyn Jones said she was told she had 6 days to vacate her home completely, even though she believes there is minimal damage from Ida. Jones told KATC that she had mistaken her apartment complex's corporate manager for someone working with FEMA.
"When I asked him 'Well, what you gonna do about us?', the man looked at me like I'm crazy -- 'Nothing.'"
According to Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, a landlord can legally ask a tenant to leave their apartment temporarily if it is to repair damages that cannot wait until the tenant's lease expires. However, a landlord cannot evict a tenant without an official eviction order from a judge.
Officials with FEMA told KATC that those who have applied for hurricane relief only to receive what appears to be a rejection letter should check the fine print because it may not be a rejection letter at all. They said that FEMA sometimes requires more information than what was originally listed on the application, such as photos of damages. If this is the case for you, FEMA officials recommend that you reapply.
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