Houston-area family of 3 found in garage, sleeping in car with engine idling after eviction

HOUSTON -- A family of three is expected to recover after they were found sleeping inside an idling car in a Houston-area residential garage on Tuesday, authorities said.

Major Mike Lee with the Harris County Sheriff's Office said the mother and two teen girls were being evicted from their home and slept in their car to stay cool.

Lee said the situation was not a suicide attempt.

Last month a Houston apartment manager faced disciplinary action after creating an eyebrow-raising eviction notice.

Sonja Lee lives at The Steeples apartment complex near Kirkwood and Westheimer.

Lee says she found a notice to vacate taped to her door that read, "Guess who's moving? You!!!" with a large smiling emoji that appeared to be waving.

RELATED: Unemployed Houston mom of 2 hit with insensitive eviction notice

Hear from a single mom of 2 kids who found an insensitive eviction note on her door. "So y'all think it's funny to antagonize the person that's going through financial hardship," she said.

"So y'all think it's funny to antagonize the person that's going through financial hardship with putting an emoji stating, 'Guess who's moving today?' There was nothing funny about that," Lee said.

The mother of two said she lost her job in March when the Jack in the Box she was working at stopped putting her on the schedule. Lee says she was denied unemployment, but has appealed five times.

She said she was able to make rent for April and May, but fell behind on rent for June and July. That's when she says she started talking to the property managers about her situation.

Lee's story is one of many heard across the county as thousands face eviction due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The video above addresses CDC's order to halt evictions based on the potential additional spread of the virus.