Dozens of Diamond Bar residents have just 12 days to vacate condos that are too unsafe to live in, according to the city. Inspectors red and yellow tagged all 150 units in the “Village at Diamond Bar,” following an inspection by city officials and a structural observation report ordered by the building’s homeowners’ association.
The order to vacate, given to residents on Sept. 30, lists “structural hazards in all buildings, including deteriorated or inadequate foundations,” along with “broken, rotten or split, or buckled exterior wall or roof coverings,” and “inadequate sanitation in all buildings...including an infestation of [termites] and visible mold growth” in the building on Golden Springs Drive, just south of the Pomona freeway.
Despite the report, some residents said they feel that the whole situation is a “land grab” so a land developer can swoop in and buy the land. They said they are not pleased that they’ve been given so little time to rearrange their lives.
"We were homeless overnight,” Gio Velis, a resident and college student, told CBS News. “It's not realistic in two weeks. I mean, I don't think you could even do it in 30 days."
The city has said that the building is not safe to live in and that the repairs needed will likely be too expensive to fix. Renters and owners disagree, and have asked the homeowners' association to pay for them.
All of the units on the second floor have been red-tagged, according to the city, which means once residents have vacated, they will not be allowed to re-enter until the city “deems the unit to be safe.”
Residents of the first-floor units, which have been yellow-tagged, will be allowed to re-enter only if they need to grab personal belongings.
The city will begin enforcement of the orders on Monday, Oct. 18, displacing some 300 residents. Officials said no one will be given an extension, and anyone who refuses to leave could face fines.
“It’s just like a tornado just hit [and] your properties are gone,” resident Leona Lau told CBS News. Lau bought her condo at Diamond Bar Village 20 years ago.
“You can’t live in it. You can’t sell it. You can’t do nothing with it, so what does it leave us?”
The city of Diamond Bar has set up a page to answer questions for owners and renters. The site answers questions surrounding the difference between the red and yellow-tagged condos and if residents are eligible for relocation assistance. To visit, click here.
The order to vacate also lists several responsibilities of landlords who have renters in the building — including paying relocation benefits directly to tenants, and the right to relocation benefits of all tenants.
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