Houston content, wierd situation - any advice appreciated

[Mike Seluk]

My brother has been a part of organizing this deal for a little while now. His neighborhood is in Houston and the upkeep is really starting to get costly, so all the residents got together and decided to try and sell the whole place. This is where he lives now with his family. It's been their primary residence for a few years, so it's not an REI deal in the traditional sense. Up to this point, the whole deal was going pretty well. I don't know if someone is trying to pull a fast one, but I can't see how something like this can occur in such a manner. Here's the e-mail I got from him. What do you think?

EDIT - I think my brother's wife actually wrote it - this sounds too needy for his writing.

"This e-mail is regarding a group of middle class citizens who live in a community we could no longer upkeep the maintenance on, so we decided to gather the required percentage and sell. Our community is currently on the market but the city wants us out on the streets, possibility forcing us into foreclosure. We 108 middle class, hard working, law abiding citizens need help.

The city had a meeting for the homeowners of Park Memorial this past Monday night. The city is forcing us out of our homes. They say it is not up to code; it is not safe. WE the residents of Park Memorial will be asked to move from our homes (which we have mortgages on). As soon as they look over the final report, in a week, he will let us know how long we have to get out of our homes.

When asked, "Where will we go?" - no answer.
"Will we have to continue to pay our mortgage and our maintenance fees? We can't pay rent on top of that. What will be do?" - no answer.
"So because we are middle class citizens with our community for sale due to realizing we have a problem, you are forcing us out of our homes, possibly to foreclosure, when we will be out in a few months anyway?" - no answer.
"The city can’t do this." - Yes, we can.
"The city can’t just kick me out of my home. I have a mortgage. I pay taxes" - Yes, we can.
"Do we have to continue paying our taxes, when we will not be living there?" - Yes
"You can’t do this." - Yes we can, we will shut off the power

Something is seriously wrong with this situation. I have never felt unsafe in my home, but someone can walk in from the city and force me out. Is there nothing I can do?

July 30th, Park Memorial was included in a front page article of the Houston Chronicle. Now that the city is involved, Park Memorial is at the hands of the Mayor's office and his inititiatives, including the quotas: http://www.houstontx.gov/mayor/press/20070519.html.

Now, a great percentage of the Park Memorial homeowners have "Extreme Hazard" stickers on their door, their parking garages are "unsafe".

In the end, our broker gets a sale, the City of Houston adds another property to its "Demolition Day" quota, and a developer gets away with a steal of a deal. What happens to the homeowners?

What did we do wrong? In the three short years we have owned our condo, like good homeowners, we have paid all of our monthly maintenance fees and every one of our mortgage payments along with our taxes, and we are being forced out of our homes.

Respectfully,
Andrea & Dan Seluk
5292 Memorial F-15
Houston, Texas 77007"