BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — 9 Investigates discovered that a Titusville apartment complex damaged in Hurricane Matthew owes millions of dollars in code enforcement fines.
Channel 9's Ty Russell first reported Monday that about 70 families were forced to leave their homes at Blue Beach Club Apartments, also known as Bay Towers.
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[ Hurricane Matthew rips off roof at Brevard County apartment building ]
The county determined the building was uninhabitable after Hurricane Matthew, when the roof was ripped off.
Eyewitness News learned the property owners have a month to make repairs, but families still don’t know where they’re going to stay next.
“Living like this, I’ve never been in a predicament like this before,” said resident Melvis Cliatt.
Claitt showed Eyewitness News pictures of the inside of his apartment. He said the stains and the hole in the ceiling were there before the hurricane.
“Really, what am I going to do? Because I’m homeless. I lost my furniture. I lost everything,” Cliatt said.
Eyewitness News received a public records request that found that Bay Towers property owners owe the city almost $4.2 million from code enforcement fines.
The city spokesperson said the fines are mostly from the property's second tower, which has been vacant since 2008 because of a fire, and it's still not up to code.
Eyewitness News asked Titusville Mayor Jim Tulley why the city can’t shut down the apartment complex.
“Well, because it's private property. You can't just shut down private property because you want to,” Tulley said.
So Eyewitness News asked the mayor what the 70 families who are now homeless are supposed to do.
“The message is to work with Brevard County Housing Authority and find themselves a temporary place to live. Put as much pressure as they can on the property owner to get the building back in shape,” Tulley said.
Eyewitness News also learned from the building inspector that nobody ever checked on the roof after repairs were made in 2014.
Residents said they plan to show up at the city council meeting Wednesday to express their concerns.