CONDO residents have had their lives thrown into flux after building safety concerns put them on the street.
Some residents at the Heron Pond Condominiums complex in Pembroke Pines, Florida were forced to relocate because of safety concerns.
On August 15, officials with the city's Fire and Building Department told residents of two buildings that they must leave their apartments by August 24 after it was discovered that the buildings have potentially disastrous structural issues.
In particular, the officials named the building's HOA as the cause of these issues.
Officials said that "unsatisfactory actions have been taken by unit owners to address" the building's safety problems.
Similarly, the residents were frustrated by the HOA's ineffective and oftentimes contradictory advice.
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"Ever since I moved in here, it’s been HOA people knocking on my door,” said resident Angel Sanchez.
“One person telling me it's safe, another person telling me it's not safe.
"I’d rather not have moved in at all.
"It would have been a lot less stressful for me.”
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In January, city officials surveyed the buildings and said that they were still habitable, but that the apartment balconies were "structurally compromised."
Over the last few months, though, the problems have continued to worsen to the point where some units seem to be visibly crumbling.
Two of the buildings have notices taped to doors designating them as unsafe structures.
Even if the city says that they've given residents plenty of heads up, some people like Sanchez have said that it's unfair to expect so many people to relocate on such short notice.
“If anyone is trying to rent in Heron Pond, don’t do it,” Sanchez said.
“I don’t think it’s fair to expect someone to pick up all their whole life in 10 days.”
The situation in Heron Park comes a little more than two years after a 12-story beachfront tower in Surfside, Florida, collapsed in 2021, killing 98 people.
