With great frustration, several residents arrived this Thursday morning to collect their belongings from the building left in ruins after suffering a major fire a few days ago after burning and displacing dozens of families.
“I feel humiliated, I feel destroyed, I feel dissatisfied,” said Rita Eizmendiz, owner of one of the New World condominiums in Miami Gardens.
“Nos enteramos a las 6:40 de la tarde que hoy a las 9am podíamos estar aquí y que eran por grupos de 4 unidades que van a estar hoy aquí”, specified Eizmendiz, acerca de los detalles de cómo se dejó ingresar a los residents in place.
Many are still living in a shelter, having been displaced more than a month ago. Some locals like Nilda Rodríguez say they are disgusted: “I felt bad because these people treated us the way they were.”
The woman says she has been informed that she can pick up her belongings next week. “I have to come to work every day. Getting up at 4am where there are only two toilets is a tragedy. It’s terrible,” Rodríguez said.
As the owners explain to us, they still have to continue to pay the mortgage and maintain the property, despite the fact that the building has been declared uninhabitable.
“We don’t use light or water. We use nothing or trash, nothing. And we have to keep paying the association, we also have to pay the taxes,” Rodríguez remarks.
A class action lawsuit against the New World condominium association was announced on Wednesday. The complaint says there was negligence on the part of the company that managed the buildings and the board of directors and adds that “they saw this fire coming but ignored the signs that could have prevented it”.
“We are going to swallow the lawsuit. Of course, because what we are experiencing is not fair,” Rodríguez says.
The violent fire occurred on January 28 and affected some 200 people who, like Rita Eizmendiz, say: “All we are asked for is money. All conversations are about money, nothing useful.”