Family of cancer-stricken child in a dispute with landlord

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Five-year-old Arleen Becerra spent the last 3 years fighting brain cancer. This summer, when the air conditioner broke at the home her family rents in northwest Houston, her dad Abel took it upon himself to quickly hire a repairman.

"I couldn't wait because my daughter has tube valves in her head, and she can't be in the extreme heat, and I just did what I had to do," he said.

The landlord's repairman would have taken three to four days. It happened on a Friday and the repairman, Abel said, couldn't come until Monday.

He was so worried, he immediately hired someone on his own to make a $900 repair.

According to his lease, Becerra is supposed to allow his landlord to make repairs. When Becerra deducted the repair bill from the rent, it didn't go well.

"So I did it, and he said no, that's too much money, and that's when we started having a problem," said Becerra.

Court documents show the Becerra family is now facing eviction.

They've appealed, but worry they won't even get their deposit back. They're in a tight spot, but Abel said if he had to, he'd fix the AC again.

"We already went through a lot with the cancer, and then to get her sick with the AC, I'm not going to risk it, and I never will."

Eyewitness News reached out to the property manager, but could not persuade anyone to respond on the record. We will follow the court proceedings and update our story.