Mary Ann Reynolds: Apartment owners should keep their buildings up to code

Thanks for putting the article “Merced tenants locked out of shuttered apartment complex” (July 5) on the front page. Attention needed to be brought to this troubling situation. I find it hard to understand why the tenants were given only 24 hour notice by the city to vacate their apartments. I can understand the city wanting the apartments vacated as they were found to be “substandard and posed an immediate threat to the health and safety of the occupants,” but why only 24 hour notice? With so little notice, tenants weren’t able to find somewhere else to live or to take all their furniture and belongings.

It was reported the owner of the apartments said: “The city’s closure of the building is what is keeping tenants out.” Seems to me the owner is the one keeping them out. If he had maintained the apartments to a safe and healthy standard, the city wouldn’t have had to close the complex.

This was an unconscionable situation for tenants. The responsibility for the unsafe and unhealthy conditions of the apartments lies with the owner, not the residents. What legal and financial responsibility does the owner have to the tenants and city?

This story was originally published August 23, 2017 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Mary Ann Reynolds: Apartment owners should keep their buildings up to code."