Week before Thanksgiving, families receive eviction notices

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Dozens of families who say a motel is the only thing keeping them from being homeless were just told they have a week to get out.

Some said the eviction date is Monday. For others it's the day after Thanksgiving.

People said they don't know what to do.

Some have been living at the Travelodge on U.S. 192 for years. Management said it's being renovated and that residents have to leave.

Some of the residents are so upset they'll have to leave this Travelodge that it brought them to tears.

They claim management has an "I don't care" attitude about it all.

These residents are so angry that they banded together in a large group to sound off.

For them, the Travelodge is home. Weekly rental fees offer a relatively inexpensive place to stay.

At least 40 residents got notices to vacate their rooms, and fast.

"These people who have been here for years, they have families, they're (wanting) us to leave within Monday," resident Nathaniel Patillo said.

They showed Eyewitness News the notices that inform them that renovations to some of the buildings will require them to leave.

They don't think it's fair.

"A lot of the people here don't have the resources, means, knowledge to go ahead try to find resources, help ourselves because that's exactly who's here in the first place," Patillo said.

In letters given to the residents, management cited Florida state statute 83.57, which says a tenancy without a specific duration may be terminated by giving not less than seven days notice if it's a week-to-week agreement.

For the residents the holidays are around the corner and they'll have no place to live.

"So we're kind of (in) trouble. We have nowhere to go then," resident Richard Preston said.

The manager did not want to talk and threatened to call the Sheriff's Office.

Some of the letters also told the residents if they don't remove their possessions by a specific date they'll be required to pay double rent and attorney's fees.

WFTV