Emergency Eviction From 'Dangerous' Apartment Forces Sacramento Families Into Uncertainty

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Nearly a dozen families were forced out of their homes Wednesday, because the apartment complex they live in was deemed as deemed unsafe.

"Nobody cares, and we can't get help from nobody," said resident Tanya Flint.

Families say they received a notice of the emergency eviction 24 hours ago, but many say they've paid their rent and don't have anywhere else to go on such short notice.

"You know, we may not make a whole lot of money but we're something," said Kelly Sanchez. "You know everybody here pulls together, everybody does."

Sanchez was devastated she had to leave her north Sacramento home in the 2300 block of Boxwood Avenue.

"It's not OK, not one of our families is not going through a hardship, not one of us," she said.

"We're going to be out on the streets. We've got nowhere to go, nowhere to go, no money to do anything," said Flint.

Flint, like the others who live at the apartment complex, says city code enforcement showed up Tuesday and red-tagged all eight units -- telling them it's too unsafe to live in.

"This building as it currently sits is dangerous to occupy," Sacramento police Sgt. Lewis Pease said. "There are structural and electrical problems here: opening wiring, as well as a rodent infestation."

The property is now bank-owned. The previous owner told CBS13 by phone that the place was foreclosed on last year when he couldn't make payments. However, some residents say monthly rent is still being automatically deducted from their accounts.

Sanchez says she paid rent up until last month and doesn't understand where her money was going.

"At the least I expect them to take care of it -- the maintenance -- at some sort livable, just make it at least livable," said Sanchez.

Now she has to find another place to stay. And with no savings, Sanchez isn't sure what's next.

"I really, I'm so lost," she said.

Police and neighbors say this has been a problem hotspot for years and hope closing it will help cut crime in the neighborhood.

The property could either be torn down or purchased by a new owner who could come in and fix it up.