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Floods cause chaos in Baton Rouge housing market; renters especially vulnerable
For the nine weeks since floodwaters destroyed her Denham Springs apartment and left her car a silted-up mess, Regan Philley and her boyfriend have camped out at a friend's house, shacking up with as many as 11 others displaced by the torrential rainstorms.
Even though their apartment in the Parc at Denham Springs complex is uninhabitable -- the floor ripped out and walls gone but for the studs -- the couple still send in a rent check each month to the property manager, reduced by half since the flood. They do so in hopes of moving back into the complex after repairs are completed.
Just when that will be isn't clear. Philley said her landlord initially told her the place might be ready by Oct. 1, a timeline that, in retrospect, looks wildly optimistic. It's an arrangement Philley, 22, says leaves her feeling exploited and frustrated.
But like thousands of other renters driven by the damage of the floods into the face of a suddenly tight housing market where rents are skyrocketing, no one seems certain of what comes next. And unenviable choices are often the only ones.
http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_61a2ff34-92e3-11e6-94dc-1770eb924bc8.html
Even though their apartment in the Parc at Denham Springs complex is uninhabitable -- the floor ripped out and walls gone but for the studs -- the couple still send in a rent check each month to the property manager, reduced by half since the flood. They do so in hopes of moving back into the complex after repairs are completed.
Just when that will be isn't clear. Philley said her landlord initially told her the place might be ready by Oct. 1, a timeline that, in retrospect, looks wildly optimistic. It's an arrangement Philley, 22, says leaves her feeling exploited and frustrated.
But like thousands of other renters driven by the damage of the floods into the face of a suddenly tight housing market where rents are skyrocketing, no one seems certain of what comes next. And unenviable choices are often the only ones.
http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_61a2ff34-92e3-11e6-94dc-1770eb924bc8.html
