{"id":290134,"date":"2025-10-09T20:34:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T20:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/290134\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T20:34:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T20:34:13","slug":"squatters-and-crime-remain-top-concerns-in-northwest-harris-county-neighborhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/290134\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatters and crime remain top concerns in northwest Harris County neighborhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON<\/strong> \u2013 Dozens of abandoned homes owned by Texas Central Railroad<\/a> continue to plague the White Oak Falls neighborhood in northwest Harris County, where residents report ongoing issues with squatters and crime.<\/p>\n

A KPRC 2 investigation spanning more than a year reveals that 41 houses, originally purchased for a stalled high-speed rail project, now sit in various states of disrepair across three neighborhood streets.<\/p>\n

White Oaks home owned by the Texas Central Railroad (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)Crime and squatters impact community<\/p>\n

Harris County Sheriff\u2019s Office records show 20 suspected crimes reported since 2020 in the affected area, including assault, robbery, burglary, and vandalism. The crimes are concentrated along three streets where Texas Central Railroad purchased the properties.<\/p>\n

RELATED: \u2018I don\u2019t feel safe\u2019: Northwest Harris County residents say squatters are ruining their neighborhood<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

KPRC 2 Investigates Joel Eisenbaum visits the sex house in Houston\u2019s White Oaks neighborhood. (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

One property, dubbed the \u201cSex House\u201d by locals, has become emblematic of the neighborhood\u2019s struggles. While sheriff\u2019s records show no reported sexual assaults in the past five years, residents describe the vacant homes as havens for illegal activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these homes were a haven to squatters<\/a>, haven to drug addicts, people falling into prostitution,\u201d said one longtime resident who built their house from the ground up.<\/p>\n

Legal challenges with current occupants<\/p>\n

Some current occupants of the abandoned properties claim legitimate residency. Nancy Perez, one such occupant, claims she\u2019s on a payment plan to purchase her home, though she could not provide documentation to support this claim. Her son, living next door, similarly failed to produce proof of ownership, claiming his paperwork was \u201cdamaged in Hurricane Beryl\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nancy Perez tells KPRC 2 Investigates Joel Eisenbaum she\u2019s on a payment plan for the home she is in, but could not provide any paperwork. (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

A judge has since ordered Perez, her son, and others to vacate the properties immediately.<\/p>\n

Railroad company\u2019s response<\/p>\n

Texas Central Railroad, which owns the 41 properties, has faced criticism for failing to secure and maintain the homes. When approached for comment about plans for the properties, the company\u2019s local representative, Chuck Keyes, declined to discuss the matter.<\/p>\n

KPRC 2 Investigates Joel Eisenbaum confronts Texas Central Railroad local representative Chuck Keyes. (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

According to neighbors, there are unofficial reports that the company may be considering renovating and renting the properties\u2014an unusual business venture for a high-speed rail company.<\/p>\n

Last year, 2 Investigates received the following unsigned response from Texas Central:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware of issues involving Texas Central owned properties in the White Oak Falls neighborhood in Harris County. We have started and completed evictions on several properties. Texas Central is working diligently with local authorities to address these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Future uncertain<\/p>\n

The situation in White Oak Falls highlights the complex issues that can arise when large-scale infrastructure projects stall, leaving communities to deal with the aftermath of property acquisitions that may never serve their intended purpose.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Dozens of abandoned homes owned by Texas Central Railroad continue to plague the White Oak Falls…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":290135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[6386,9426,4345,16844,358,148865,3187,148864],"class_list":{"0":"post-290134","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-harris-county","9":"tag-high-speed-rail","10":"tag-houston","11":"tag-investigates","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-texas-central-railroad","14":"tag-tx","15":"tag-white-oak-falls"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115346123435601759","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}