Charity fears evicted Mayan Hotel tenants will become homeless

Spread The Love charity said dozens of tenants evicted from El Centro Mayan Hotel on Monday morning are about to become homeless adding to the already pressing local homeless problem.

Charity official Maricela Moreno said, “Tenants were given a short notice to evacuate the premises. It was a nightmare. These people were going to end up not having a place to live. Getting evicted from their home, when they have paid their rent on time, and them not having the means to find another place to live, or have any family to stay with.”

She said the charity was a first responder as the eviction was taking place.

“We were there just trying to give them some support. And try to figure out what it was that we were going to do with these people because we were not going to leave them on the streets and end up being homeless, especially right now that it’s really cold,” Moreno said.

The city issued a press release, saying they were forced to red tag the building after the owner did not answer calls to fix substandard living conditions and fire danger issues. Charity said they worked with the owner in helping to find temporary housing for the evicted tenants. They were able to get rooms for some of them at local hotels.

Charity official Jessica Solorio said, “He went and got them the motel rooms, their bus tickets, got them their checks for the groceries, whatever their case was.”

In its press release, the city called the owner a slum lord. Solorio said he denies being one.

“He had stated that he didn’t know the extent of the repairs, that his management that was there was the one that was handling all of that stuff for him, so he didn’t find out until it was too late,” Solorio said.

The charity said there was a large police presence during the eviction, which intimidated tenants.

“The tenants really felt intimidated and they really felt threatened by that. Especially because they were holding their weapons at all times,” Solorio said.

She said tenants do not have enough money to go anywhere. The charity is asking the community to help in this crisis.

“Keep in mind these people do not have an income. Most of them don’t get their checks until the first or third o the month,” Moreno said.

“Let’s make a plan to make sure that these people don’t wind up homeless,” Solorio said.

Spread The Love can be contacted on Facebook.