Former Royse City ISD teacher Deidre Culp and her three children won’t be moving into the Rockwall Area Habitat for Humanity Home being completed in Royse City.
“We felt like it would be in her best interests and in Habitat’s best interests to not continue with the sale,” said Larry Wells, vice president of the Rockwall chapter. “We regret having to do it,” he said in a recent interview.
The home is being built at 928 Joe Bailey in Royse City, work having begun on Jan. 31, and Culp having received notice of her selection she said then, on Jan. 16.
Wells said that “before a house is finished, the board goes through an extensive review of everything that has come in.”
Culp said in a recent interview, “I did assume they would do all the background before I was selected.”
She learned of the deselection, she said, when her sister drove her to the house site in April for a Saturday morning of “sweat equity” in which the owner provides hands-on labor as part of the house sale agreement.
She was asked to go to the local Holiday Inn, she said, for a meeting with other Habitat board members.
In the meeting, she said Wells referred to inconsistencies. Culp recalled Wells as saying, “this is not the right time for you to take on the responsibility of a house; if something goes wrong you wouldn’t be able to fix it.”
Culp felt ambushed she said, and was disappointed that the following Monday, when she asked that the inconsistencies be put forth in writing, she did not get that.
Wells said the meeting included the family selection head, the house “nurturer”, Rockwall Habitat chapter president Jim Beebe, and himself.
Culp, in the recent interview, spoke on details of the turbulence in her life since she left employment with Royse City ISD in March 2008.
She and the children moved in with her parents, she said, in March of this year, after receiving an eviction notice at the house she rented. She said she was not behind on her rent when she left, though had been periodically throughout the tenure, and paid it and the fees associated with it, she said. The landlords were “wonderful” to her, she said, and she understood they wanted the house back.
At the meeting, the board showed her pictures of the house after she left it. She said had she and her family known she had five extra days to clean it, they would have done so. Being wheelchair bound, and with many visits to doctors for herself, and appointments for the two children, who have health problems, she did not have the resources to clean it fully prior to the move-out date, she said.
Culp has not been working since March 2008, when she resigned from the Royse City ISD for health reasons, those of herself, the stress and back problems, and her children, whose health issues have require frequent visits to providers and much of her time and attention. The children are adopted, and for two, she receives state money, which she planned to use for the monthly Habitat home payments, she said. She is determined to go back to work, she said, but that is on hold until after a surgery for kidney cancer, diagnosed before Christmas, is done.
Since the Habitat home began going up, she has given her van, she said, being unable to make payments on it.
Habitat offered her the chance to relinquish the house sale, and thus be eligible to reapply, she and Wells both said. She has not accepted that route, she said. She is appealing with the national Habitat organization.
Wells said two unanimous votes by the board approved Culp’s deselection. One was “electronic”, and one was in a regular board meeting.
Habitat’s home application on the website details requirements, including the expectation that a buyer provide $1,000 for a premium for homeowner’s insurance, the buyer’s portion of the title insurance, and filing fees. Houses are purchased at cost on a 20 to 30 year mortgage, with an expected estimated monthly payment of $400, which includes taxes and insurance.
The application also states the chapter will “verify employment and other income, verify checking and savings account balances, get a statement from your current and previous landlords, run a credit check, and review your credit references ...” among other things.
Local News
Habitat pulls offer for awarding of Royse City home
- Local News
-
-
Local artists vy for Alliance People’s Choice Award
Brenda Elam, Susan Jump, Doris Vasek, and Tommie Ledford are just four of the talented local artists who are competing in the upcoming People’s Choice Award Competition which will be held on Sept. 11 at the Hilton Bella Harbor during the Rockwall County Alliance for the Arts annual fundraising gala.
-
Fines waived as library switches automation systems
The public library in Royse City is switching to a new, more efficient automation system. As it makes the switch, the library will offer clemency for all overdue materials checked out before August 23, 2010.
-
Comissioners to sell eight acres near new county courthouse
Rockwall County commissioners voted last week to retain a broker to sell about eight acres of county-owned property along Interstate 30.
-
Equine Emergency | Rockwall Emergency personnel rescue horse
Rockwall Fire and Police Departments responded when a board broke in a trailer and the horse fell through. Fortunately, the driver stopped immediately so the horse was not injured by being dragged. They were also at the exit of I-30 and FM 549 and not actually traveling on the highway. The horse’s back leg was under the trailer, under the axle. Dr. Keith Taylor of Rockwall Veterinary Clinic also responded and sedated the horse. Taylor tied ropes around the horse’s legs so she could be pulled from the trailer. Belinda Green, a Throwaway Ponies volunteer, saw the first police officer on the scene and pulled over to help. She called TaPs for backup. Mary and Karen Bander brought their trailer and came to help. Though the professionals got the horse out, TaPs volunteers comforted and calmed the horse and eventually hauled her to her original destination. The horse only had minor cuts.
-
Jobless picture improves slightly
Jobs are being created in Rockwall County and the local unemployment rate dipped slightly between June and July.
-
Pot plane pilot grounded in Hunt County
Darin Fayne, the California man who was alleged to have flown a plane filled with marijuana across North Texas last month, was booked into the Hunt County Jail Saturday.
-
Drug plane suspect to waive extradition to Texas
The suspect who is alleged to have flown a plane across North Texas, dropping bags of marijuana along the way, is expected to be returned to the state by the end of the month.
-
Drought conditions worsening
The drought situation continues to worsen, especially in Northeast Texas.
Rockwall County was listed under significant drought conditions as of the start of the week, with two nearby counties included among the driest in the state. -
Rockwall Computer Council reconvenes
After a summer break, the Rockwall Computer Council (RCC) will meet on Sept. 1. at 6:30 p.m. at The Center, Rockwall City Place, 108 E. Washington St.
-
Shepard seeking Congress seat
A Hopkins County man has been approved by the Texas Secretary of State to run as an independent candidate for the 4th Congressional District in the November general election.
Shane Shepard of Sulphur Springs has announced his candidacy for the United State House of Representatives for the 4th District of Texas. - More Local News Headlines
-
Local artists vy for Alliance People’s Choice Award
