After the Tornado, Vultures Descend on North Nashville

In the days following Tuesday morning's devastating tornado, which tore a path from North Nashville through heart of East Nashville and into Donelson and Hermitage, thousands of people have responded by donating time and supplies to help with ongoing relief efforts. But in North Nashville at least, good neighbors aren't the only people who have been showing up. Predatory investors have descended upon the neighborhood, waving cash offers at residents whose homes have been reduced to a pile of debris atop a valuable lot. 

It's nothing new for Nashville's historically black neighborhood, where real estate flippers have been the foot soldiers of rapid gentrification and displacement. But in the wake of a natural disaster, some residents were still surprised to see them sniffing around. 

Valerie Fisher, 49, had lived in her home on the corner of 16th Avenue North and Cockrill Street since it was built by Habitat for Humanity in 1996. As she tells the Scene, she'd lived in her house for 24 years and lost it in 24 seconds.

Fisher was asleep in her bed as Monday night turned to Tuesday morning when the sound of rain woke her up. She welcomed it. But then she heard the tornado siren. Then an alert on her phone. She'd never seen one with the words "take cover now" before. Then she heard a loud bang, and her house started shaking. 

“When it started shaking it threw me out the bed," she says. "So I was laying on the floor, and I was gonna maybe try to make it to the bathtub or the closet, but there was no time. It threw me out the bed, I was on the floor and then the roof just peeled off my house.”

Then it was gone just as quickly as it had come. Fisher found herself covered in debris. 

“I figured out that I was alive, I’m covered in stuff, I don’t know exactly what I’m covered in, and I’m trying to get out of it," she says recalling the disorienting moments after the tornado had passed. 

She called out for her sister, who had been sleeping in another room. They were able to get to each other and climb out of a bedroom window.

Once the sun came up on Tuesday, Fisher tried assessing the damage and sorting through what was left of her home, but the devastation was too overwhelming for her and her neighbors to make much progress. She came back on Wednesday to dig out family photos and other personal items.

Throughout the day, she says, people would approach her and ask if she was the homeowner and if they could do anything to help. She had no way of knowing who they were; some of them, no doubt, were sincerely looking to assist the community. She never exchanged her personal information with anyone. But that evening, she received a text message that she says left her "irate." She shared it with the Scene. 

"I'm like, 'Really?'" says Fisher. "'This is what we're doing right now?'" 

It's not that Fisher had never seen that kind of offer before. She says she and her neighbors regularly receive mail pieces and text messages inquiring about their property. Typically, she just blocks the phone number and moves on.

"Even in all of this tragedy, even in all of this catastrophe, this chaos, this heartache that all of these people in all of these neighborhoods are experiencing, you took the time to text me to say, 'Hey, did you want to sell? Let me know.'" 

As part of their tornado relief efforts, The Equity Alliance has been addressing the influx of predatory investors and developers under the banner "Don't Sellout The Norf." Homeowners' meetings are planned for Monday, March 9, at noon and 6 p.m. at Lee Chapel AME Church. Insurance professionals and realtors — along with banking and government professionals — will be on hand to answer any questions. According to The Equity Alliance, "They need real estate professionals, lawyers, government officials and insurance professionals to assist with gathering resources and sharing with residents." 

The Metro Nashville Police Department has also released tips to avoid scams by contractors and others looking to capitalize on the destruction.