ROSEBUD, Texas (KXXV) — Some neighbors in Rosebud spent Thursday morning protesting outside of City Hall.
They were there to show their support for Adelia Martinez, a disabled resident of the Lott Housing Authority.
Adelia was there to attend her eviction hearing with Justice Polk.
The housing authority's reasoning for her eviction — failure to complete annual re-certification.
But Adelia claims she was discriminated against for being disabled.
"I tried everything, everything I could think of to get help because she discriminated against me," said current resident Adelia Martinez.
Adelia says she failed to complete her recertification because her father and overseer is not allowed on the property due to previous charges of criminal trespassing.
As a result, she was unable to complete the process on her own.
But Deborah Goffney and the Lott Housing Authority says Martinez had nearly a year to get the certification done.
Judge Polk ruled in favor of the Lott Housing Authority — giving Martinez five days to appeal.
"It didn't go too well because our lawyer didn't show up today so she had to handle it by herself so I'll give her credit,” said Adelia’s father, Roy Martinez.
Adelia's dad tells 25 News this isn't the end of their fight for justice.
"We're going to appeal this case, it's not over. They lied — we got the facts , we got evidence and we got video,” Roy Martinez said.
25 News attempted to speak with Mrs. Goffney about the allegations against her and the housing authority.
Although she refused to comment at the time, we later received a written statement from the Lott Housing Authority.
The Lott Housing Authority provided 25 News with the following statement :
Justice Polk issued a proper order for eviction against Ms. Martinez. Ms. Martinez falsely claimed discrimination to hide the fact that she violated her lease in several ways. All of us must comply with our leases and mortgages. The Lott Housing Authority went above and beyond by providing her with numerous written requests and warnings, hoping not to evict her, but she ignored these attempts. Instead, she failed to rectify herself for 12 months and spun a false claim of discrimination.
Ms. Martinez's actions could have resulted in LHA losing federal status, causing residents to lose their homes. To protect other residents by ensuring LHA is compliant with federal law, LHA took the necessary steps to file an eviction, including terminating her lease and providing two separate notices to vacate. In addition, on July 16, 2024, the Texas Workforce Commission stated that Ms. Martinez's allegation of discrimination had no reasonable cause. We applaud Justice Polk and LHA for taking the proper steps to ensure that the citizens of Lott can continue to have a Housing Authority in the community.
