Mesquite is condemning an apartment complex with hundreds of safety violations, leaving dozens of people scrambling to find a new home.
Residents of Allenhurst Apartments say they didn't have enough time to prepare for Friday's condemnation, but the city says it has been a long time coming.
"If you get evicted from some place, you get more notice than we were given," Sherri Auldridge said. "We just didn't get ample time."
On Monday, the city put up signs that told everyone at the dilapidated apartment complex in the 1000 block of Military Parkway to be out by Friday.
City inspectors said the complex has received more than 800 safety violations, including fire hazards, plumbing issues and falling sanitary conditions, in the past year alone.
Auldridge's apartment has mold in her air-conditioning vents and holes in the ceiling.
City leaders said they've been inspecting the complex for the past year and warned neighbors to find other places for months.
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"It's not the city evicting these folks, it's the management company by their inactions," city spokesman Wayne Larson said. "They have had and have displaced a conscious disregard for the lives of these people."
Neomi Flores, the apartment manager, said Allenhurst the city rejected a proposal to remodel..
"I really wouldn't put a finger to nobody," she said. "It's just the way things started going. One thing after another started going wrong, and we did what we could."
Auldridge said she hates the way she has to leave her home.
"We've just become like family," she said. "We look out for each other and now we're not going to be neighbors, so it's pretty devastating."
City leaders said the remaining families have found places to go. The city said it would not put anyone out on the street if he or she is still occupying the complex on Friday. The city will leave utilities on for a few days after the condemnation.
