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Mother-Daughter Forced to Live in Van Due to High Rent Prices
Mother-Daughter Forced to Live in Van Due to High Rent Prices 9/19/12
CBS 7 News
September 19, 2012
tguinn@cbs7.com
Odessa - It's an unimaginable situation, being priced out of your home. That's exactly what happened to an Odessa mother and daughter.
The two live on a fixed income and when their rent doubled, they were left with what they both say was one choice; to move out.
Nena and Aline Flanagin have been living in their van for over a week, searching for anywhere to call home.
"I sleep on the concrete and my mom sleeps in the van," Nena said.
The mother and daughter have health problems and have lived in Lincoln Towers for over a year, but it all changed last week due to high rent prices.
"We asked if we could stay until we find a place, they were like, 'no, this is a place of business just like any other. You have to pay your rent or you have to get out,’” Nena said.
But the manager of Lincoln Towers says that was not the case.
"We did not make the women move out, it was their choice."
Flanigan says when they first moved into their one bedroom apartment, they were paying $1,245. She says last month rent skyrocketed to $2,400.
"We don't make but $1,500 a month between the two of us," she said. "We just had to walk off and leave it."
The two have nowhere to go and until they find a place to call home, the van is where they'll stay.
"We're between a rock and a hard place and there's no where to go. Unless somebody helps us out, we're lost because we can't keep doing this," Nena said.
Flanigan says they do have calls out to area nursing homes that may have vacancies, but haven't heard anything yet.