Outpouring of help for family forced to leave home

More help is on the way for the Gwinnett County family forced out of their storm-damaged home earlier this week.

Another church in the Sugar Hill community has offered to pay for hotel rooms for the family on a day-to-day basis, Allyson Reinecke said Saturday evening. A different church paid for the family's hotel rooms for Thursday and Friday nights. The churches wished to remain anonymous.

The Sugar Hill home Reinecke has shared for six years with her husband and daughter, mother-in-law and two brothers-in-law was declared unlivable by a city inspector on Tuesday.

An April storm sent a tree crashing into the living room and a bedroom of the modular home, leaving holes in the roofline and unstable walls, said Burny Agee, building officer for the City of Sugar Hill.

Family members contend the landlord failed to make the needed repairs. Landlord Bertha Botello has said she plans to repair the house, but said the process was delayed as the settlement was negotiated.

"It was delayed for two months because they [the family] insisted in getting involved in something that did not concern them," Botello said Wednesday.

Botello could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

Reinecke said her family had already paid for tree removal and for tarps to cover the damaged roof.

It's not the first time the renters have had to foot the bill for repairs on the property, Reinecke said. Earlier this year, the family replaced the furnace after living for two years without heat or air conditioning. They also had to replace the hot water heater, she said.

"She said, 'It's your house, you guys can deal with it,' " Reinecke said.

Three contractors visited the home on Friday. One refused to give an estimate because of the extent of the damage, mold and mildew.

Reinecke said the family, through the help of others, has found other homes they are interested in renting and have the rental application for one.