Landslide victims still await help

It will be seven years in April since heavy rains triggered landslides along Colorado Springs' foothills, damaging or destroying more than 135 homes.

Although most of the 1999 landslide victims have moved on, Vic Stapel and Carol Rusk still are suffering. Stapel declared bankruptcy, and Rusk continues paying the mortgage for the wrecked house she was forced to abandon.

But a recent decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency promises relief for the embattled former west-side neighbors.

The city has been awarded FEMA disaster mitigation grants that will finally bring some relief to Stapel and Rusk. Once all the paperwork and approvals are received, the city expects to cut checks and demolish the houses.

"We're getting the process moving," said Bret Waters, director of the city's office of emergency management. "We really feel for these people.... We're working with appraisers, attorneys and contractors. We intend to get it done this year."

Though Stapel and Rusk would like to see the process accelerated, they are happy that help is finally on the way.

Unlike 27 victims who received FEMA buyouts, neither Stapel nor Rusk cashed in -- Stapel by choice, Rusk by accident.

Stapel thought the landslide that ruined his hillside house on Honey Locust Court was caused when owners of a storage complex below him cut into the hill and failed to install a retaining wall. So he sued the company, thinking he'd get a better settlement than the 75 percent buyout FEMA was offering.

Two blocks away, Rusk didn't realize, at first, why the ceilings and walls of her hillside house were cracking and buckling. By the time she did, and submitted a request for processing, the $5 million FEMA had allotted for landslide victims was gone.

Their lives have never been the same.

"It forced me into bankruptcy," Stapel said. "And it helped my wife make her mind up about a divorce."

Stapel hired an attorney to sue the storage company, spending $13,000 in fees before dropping the case in 2003. And by declaring bankruptcy, he walked away from an estimated $20,000 equity in his house.

"I never did get another house," Stapel said. "If this hadn't happened, I would have avoided bankruptcy. The divorce was inevitable, probably. But this accelerated it.

"I would really like to close the book completely."

For Rusk, the damage was financial and emotional. As a single mother with a modest income, she couldn't afford to move.

But by September 2000, the ground had shifted so much it was stressing the naturalgas line into the house. It had to be disconnected, along with the electricity.

She stayed until the weather got cold, then moved for the safety of her kids. Because she was still paying the mortgage on her wrecked house, Rusk couldn't afford another place. So a friend let Rusk and her children live temporarily in his home.

"It's been extremely hard," Rusk said. "I lost all my equity in that house. And I'm still paying for it."

She did get a low-interest FEMA loan that allowed her to pay off her original mortgage company and buy a small house. But the double mortgage payment has made it impossible for her to save money, help her kids with college, or put away anything for retirement.

Even worse, she's liable if someone gets hurt on her property, because it is uninsurable.

It will take months to determine how much Rusk or Stapel receive from FEMA.

Waters said FEMA will pay 75 percent of the last appraised value on the properties, which was in 1998. Of that amount, 75 percent will be used to pay off the mortgage while the remaining 25 percent goes to the city to pay for demolition and administrative costs.

Rusk is hoping to receive some of the equity she had built in the year between her purchase of the house and the landslide.

Stapel had 12 years of equity in his house. He thinks he's due $20,000 or so, but he fears he'll get nothing because he declared bankruptcy.

"For all the hassle I've had to go through, I should at least be given a fair share of it," Stapel said. "But I'm used to getting the shaft. I've learned to let go."

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