Water Shutoff, Deteriorating Conditions In Central Florida Apartment Complex Facing Foreclosure May Force Tenants Onto Street

In New Smyrna Beach, Florida, the Daytona Beach News Journal reports:

• With only a trickle of water coming from their faucets, tenants of a Wayne Avenue apartment complex find themselves drowning in a sea of foreclosure red tape and unpaid water bills. As sprinklers rain H2O onto the golf course across the street from their residence [...], Melvin Brown and his son depend on drips to fill buckets they use to flush their toilets or take a sponge bath after the city's Utilities Commission turned off their water Aug. 24 because their landlord didn't pay the bill.

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• Property owner Robert Fiorenzi said he is as much of a victim of circumstance as his tenants. "Being in foreclosure I am losing money and cannot cover my bills," the New Smyrna Beach resident said. [...] The utility insist[s ...] he pay the entire $5,400 due for July, as well as late fees, penalties and surety bond payments, which total almost $8,300, according to Utilities Commission records.(1)

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• When the issue came to the attention of Mayor Sally Mackay, she pleaded with her fellow city commissioners to intervene, something they weren't willing to do. [...] Mackay said she didn't want the situation to deteriorate to a point where residents will have to be put out of their apartments because of health concerns.

For the story, see Tenants left dry over unpaid water bill.

(1) According to a Utilities Commission e-mail, 20 of the 45 apartments in the multifamily complex are occupied, although landlord Robert Fiorenzi said the figure is closer to 10, according to the story. Because a single water meter -- billed to the landlord -- serves the complex, renters are left dry because they aren't able to pay their bills individually.