County steps in to help evicted Eatonville motel residents

EATONVILLE, Fla. — Families kicked out of their homes in Eatonville are staying at an Orange County shelter until they find a permanent place to live, Channel 9 learned Monday.

Several families were forced out of the Extended Stay Motel late Friday after inspections deemed the building unsafe.

Now, 24 of the former residents, half of them children, will be spending the next week at the shelter until they can find a new place to live.

Eyewitness News first broke the story on Tuesday when roughly 60 residents were given 48 hours to move because the motel was condemned. The residents got a one-day reprieve, but they were forced out permanently Friday night.

The county called on hotel owner Harris Rosen, who stepped up and gave families hotel rooms through the weekend. On Monday, the county finally stepped in and found a temporary shelter for the misplaced residents.

Officials said the on-again, off-again timing of the eviction added to the confusion and so did the fact that the eviction came late Friday after government offices had closed for the week.

The county will now look into a way to keep that from happening in the future.

Officials said they'll work with the private sector to help the families get the money they need to put deposits on new apartments, which is usually the problem for families who live paycheck to paycheck.

WFTV