Asbestos prevents tenants from reclaiming their belongings

Houston, TX – Dozens of senior citizens who were forced out of their apartment homes in November because of a fire are now facing obstacles to retrieve their belongings.

Bellerive, a senior housing complex, in southwest Houston caught fire just days after Thanksgiving, and over 200 residents were forced to evacuate their homes, leaving their possessions and memories behind. Now some residents are finding out that they are unable to reclaim their items.

The Houston Housing Authority, the owner of the apartments, has announced that 61 of the building’s 210 apartments may have been contaminated with asbestos fibers released from the building by the fire.

Tenants are being told it’s up to them to pay for the cleanup of their belongings, which has been estimated to be about $3,400 per apartment. Repair work on the complex is scheduled to start in a few days, and if the residents don’t have them cleaned and reclaim them by then, their possessions will be destroyed in the process.

The tenants, all low-income people who do not have the money to pay for the asbestos removal, say it’s unfair to put the burden on them when it should be the landlord’s responsibility.

Tim Seckinger, the housing authority’s board chairman, said he’s determined to help the residents get their items back without the facing financial hardships. The agency is arranging a meeting next week for tenants to meet with an asbestos cleanup company to see if they could negotiate a lower price for the removal.

Investigators believe the fire was caused by a candle that was left unattended in a fifth-floor apartment.

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