HOA Nut House

Residents: Management Company Didn't Pay Bills

MIAMI --

Some residents of a Miami condominium building might be displaced due to numerous code violations and unsanitary conditions, including a mountain of trash.

Residents of a condominium complex at Northwest 16th Avenue and 15th Street said their trash has not been collected in four or five months. The result is a pile of garbage that is about one story tall.

The trash is not the building's only problem. Residents said the management company and the homeowners' association have not paid the electric, water or trash bills, NBC 6's Tom Llamas reported.

Inside the building, there were puddles in the stairways, cockroaches and mosquitoes. Fire officials went to the building Monday night because there was no electricity, meaning the fire alarms did not work. Code enforcement officers and fire officials planned to inspect the building Tuesday.

"It's a mess because our garbage hasn't been picked up in like five months. The water is going down the stairs. We don't have lights. They had cut the lights off the other day. It's a mess. We can't live here. There's mosquitoes because of the garbage," said resident Thalia Miller.

Because the fire alarm did not work, an official from Miami Fire Rescue stayed at the condo complex all night Monday to make sure nothing happened. The trash mound could act like a wick if a fire did start.

The two-year-old building has 51 units, but only 17 were occupied. Some of the units have been broken into and some air conditioning units have been removed.

When Wilson Borgus, one of the remaining residents, left for work Tuesday morning, he didn't know if he would have a home by the end of the day.

"By today, I might not have a house anymore, you know? And I've still got the mortgage on my back," Borgus said.

A garbage company went to the building Tuesday morning in order to help clean up the trash pile.

Officials said the problem at the building is an example of how the mortgage crisis in the U.S. is affecting the condo owners, some of whom are still making mortgage payments.

Code enforcement officials were working with the residents in an attempt to fix the fire alarms and emergency lights. If officials deem the building unsafe, the residents will have 24 hours to move out, Llamas reported. Officials are expected to make a decision by the end of the day Tuesday.

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