Council Members Join East Austin Tenants In Show Of Support Protesting Sudden Eviction Notice

EAST AUSTIN, TX -- City council members on Wednesday joined a rally at Blanton Elementary School organized in support of residents being forced out of their homes by the new owner of an East Austin apartment complex.

More than 40 residents -- some of them families with children -- were recently given short notice to move out of their homes after a new property owner purchase the Tarrytown Townhomes at 5020 Manor Road. On Wednesday, Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo was joined by council members Delia Garza, Sabino Renteia and Greg Casar in suppot of the families facing eviction.

“As members of the Austin City Council, we support the tenants of 5020 Manor Road," the council members said in a joint statement. "We received information that the tenants of this property were given less than 30 days to find new homes. This practice is unacceptable.”

East Austin, where the property is located, has become a choice site for outside real estate investors intent on building high-end luxury housing or commercial development. The sector has become trendy in recent years, forcing many longtime residents out given the gentrification-fueled, higher property taxes as a result of the brisk developement.

Those not displaced by soaring property rates are simply asked to leave their homes, often with too-short notice to accommodate their families -- including finding new schools for their children.

The mass eviction is at odds with a new ordinance passed Sept. 1 that requires property managers to give tenants 120 days minimum to move out. The new owners of the property have yet to respond to the tenants' requests for more time to move.

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