Today Travis County 353rd District Court Judge Tim Sulak issued a ruling granting a temporary injunction requested by Mayor Sylvester Turner to enjoin the Texas General Land Office (GLO) from providing housing recovery assistance for residents in the City of Houston. The GLO will appeal the decision.
"The decision by the City of Houston to prioritize litigation versus rebuilding housing for those who have been waiting nearly three years is reprehensible," said Brittany Eck, Communications Director for Disaster Recovery. "City officials and their attorneys continue to hinder disaster recovery for the most vulnerable Houston residents three years after Hurricane Harvey. The GLO has a proven track record of success in rebuilding homes in 48 counties, yet rather than put people back in their homes, the City of Houston has chosen to pay attorneys to keep Houstonians in the City's own failed housing program."
GLO vs the City of Houston by the numbers
The City of Houston's lack of progress in Hurricane Harvey disaster homeowner assistance recovery programs is clear. While the City of Houston often combines all program projects (home repair/rebuilding, reimbursement, down payment assistance, etc.) into one reporting figure, the GLO reports these numbers strictly by program. The GLO's total combined applications approved for reimbursements and rebuilding homes is 5,879.
City of Houston Housing and Community Development Department (HCDD) run programs (according to reporting to the GLO from HCDD)
- Start date - January 19, 2019
- Applications approved by GLO for all HOAP programs - 273
- Reimbursements administered - 64
- Home repair/reconstruction approved - 209
- Home repair/reconstruction completed - 65
Texas General Land Office Homeowner Assistance Program (48 counties - not including City of Houston or Harris County)
This is the repairing and reconstructing homes program.
- Start dates - Nov. 27 - Dec. 3, 2018, rollout of 6 regions
- You can view weekly updated application totals at https://recovery.texas.gov/hap/.
- Permit complete/construction underway -
- Applications approved - 3,072
- Applications pending construction start - 882
- Homes under construction - 549
- Homes completed - 1,630
Texas General Land Office Homeowner Reimbursement Program (48 counties - not including City of Houston or Harris County)
- 2,807 applications approved for more than $81.6 million - current as of today.
- You can view weekly updated application totals at https://recovery.texas.gov/hrp/.
GLO-run Homeowner Assistance Program in the City of Houston
- Start date - March 24, 2020
- Applications in the documentation completion phase (working towards eligibility) - 696
- Complete program files (eligible) - 230
- Permit complete/construction underway - 7
- Construction complete - 2