Another Group Of Low-Income Tenants Fall Victim To Building Violations, Face Boot By Town Code Enforcement From Motel Being Improperly Used As Unlicensed Long-Term Rooming House

In West Springfield, Massachusetts, WWLP-TV Channel 22 reports:

• The Medallion Motel in West Springfield was set to close [...] because of code violations, but some of the residents have been given more time to get out.
  
  The Town had been set to condemn the property [], because the fire monitoring system had not been paid for, among other problems. The motel also owes $20,000 in property taxes.
  
  Twenty-four units would be affected by the closure. Several residents had paid the month’s rent in early February, only to learn from management that they would be evicted by the Town. The Town had notified management in November.
  
  Several tenants, many with disabilities and on a fixed income, went to Attorney James Brown, who brought emergency motions to the Town on Friday to get the fire monitoring system paid for.
  
  “We were able to get that paid for and get them back in. So they are not being evicted right yet. However there is a date of April 1 that the Town will condemn the property for being used as a long-term boarding house, when it is only licensed as a hotel,” Brown said.
  
  Brown told 22News that if negotiations fail to get tenants their money back from property management, the next step would be to file a civil case. The company that owns the property is out of Texas.

Source: Medallion Motel tenants given more time before eviction (Town says hotel was being used as a rooming house).