JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Up to 32 families at “America’s Best Inn” in Baymeadows were forced out after the city condemned a building as unsafe last week. Now, tenants in the motel’s other building are worried about what’s next for them.
The first building is now empty after the city condemned it for structural concerns, but tenants in the second building say they were given notices to vacate for “renovations”.
Since then, neighbors in the second building say they haven’t been able to get through to anyone in charge.
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“This is no place for people to be,” Jacqueline Humphreys told Action News Jax. She’s bedridden and has lived at the inn for more than two-and-a-half years. Humphreys worries she may soon have to move.
“How [am I] gonna get out of this bed to get to another place to lay in another bed?” she said.
Humphreys and her son, Kyle, can’t get any answers from management. “I don’t know if they’re gonna come in and push us out,” Kyle Humphreys said.
Action News Jax called two managers, but couldn’t get through to them either.
“They ignore it. They don’t even answer. They don’t even come around, they don’t take care of anything,” Jacqueline Humphreys explained.
Kevin Harris with Campione Law says a landlord must provide permanent tenants paying month-to-month with a 15-day notice to vacate. Florida statutes say if the tenant pays week to week, they need at least seven days. If a landlord is asking tenants to temporarily vacate for a couple of days to do renovations, Harris says the landlord must pay for the tenants’ temporary housing.
“It’s putting so much stress on so many people around here... I’m really concerned if she’s gonna have another breakdown and pass away. It’s been close, there’s been a couple times,” Kyle Humphreys said.
Action News Jax is still making efforts to get in touch with the inn’s current owners.
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