The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
59°F
Current Conditions
Overcast clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Katrina victims get extended stay

Pauline Powell removes personal belongings from the Maison St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans on Saturday. Powell and her family were among about 100 people who received eviction notices. The evictions were blocked by a judge. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Pauline Powell removes personal belongings from the Maison St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans on Saturday. Powell and her family were among about 100 people who received eviction notices. The evictions were blocked by a judge. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

NEW ORLEANS – A judge blocked the eviction Saturday of about 100 people from a New Orleans hotel, which had ordered tenants displaced by Hurricane Katrina to move out to make room for new guests.

Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Michael Bagneris issued a restraining order and ruled that the hurricane victims be allowed to return, said Bill Quigley, head of the Loyola Law Clinic, who sought the order.

The Maison St. Charles manager Emily Wright did not return calls Saturday seeking comment.

Some tenants said they got their eviction notices Monday, the day the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it would continue to pay for hotel rooms housing hurricane victims while it ironed out issues arising from a class-action lawsuit.

Wright told the Times-Picayune the hotel had planned on the Katrina victims leaving by the initial federal cut-off of Jan. 7, and it needed to make room for guests who had reserved rooms months earlier. “I feel like we have to honor those contracts,” she said Friday.

Hotels’ participation in housing hurricane victims is voluntary, FEMA spokesman James McIntyre said. “We have no legal authority to have the hotel discontinue its standard business practices,” he said. “We will work to assist people who have been evicted.”