State bureaucracy is causing grief for some property owners who live out in Wichita County. In this week's editorial... KAUZ General Manager Mike DeLier says County Judge Woody Gossom is taking up the fight for these homeowners.

Wichita County Judge Woody Gossom heads to Austin to fight for the rights of property owners who live in the unincorporated areas of Wichita County. It's over an obscure rule, passed back in 2003 by a state organization called the Office of Rural Community Affairs, ORCA for short.

Several county residents have learned their property isn't worth what they paid for it and it's the result of the floods last summer. After the floods, the county residents have been asking the state and FEMA to buy them out so they can move to an area out of the flood zone.

But here's where the rub comes in. ORCA created a rule in 2003 that says, money will not be provided, unless there is sufficient evidence the property to be purchased was not constructed or purchased by the current owner after their property was officially mapped and included in a designated flood plain area. 

As far back as the early 1990's these folks bought their homes and secured loans for up to 95 percent of the value. This was well before the ORCA rule. Yet they are being held to it, as if they should have known. Judge Gossom says it's a rule neither the property owners, the Wichita Falls Realtors Association, mortgage companies nor title companies knew anything about. He feels it's an unfair rule, mostly because no one has ever heard of it.  

We support Judge Gossom and the fight he is taking up against the ORCA Board in an effort to protect the property values of county residents who live outside the city limits of Wichita Falls. If you disagree with this rule, send us your comments to comments@kauz.com.  We will forward those comments to ORCA for their Austin meeting.