Another condo building deemed unsafe due to cracks | FOX 35 Orlando

Another condo building deemed unsafe due to cracks

Residents from 12 different units at a Kissimmee condominium complex are sleeping someplace else, after they were forced to evacuate, due to cracks in the buildings.

John Stevenson and his family were exhausted, as they hurried to move out of their home at Sun Lake Condominiums in Kissimmee on Wednesday.

"I was sitting in my chair, and all of a sudden, I heard a boom and the house shook," Stevenson said. 

According to an Osceola County spokesman, a building engineer deemed a second building unsafe, after evacuating a building next door.

"Next thing you know, there's a knock on the door and they say this building has been condemned too."

A total of 12 units are affected.

"They said they'd give our rent back and deposit, but no accommodations for living. What are you going to do with all your stuff? Put it in storage."

Stevenson and his girlfriend, Carolyn Moffett, said it's frustrating.

"Nobody's taking responsibility," he said. "I don't understand how you can take all these fees and everything, but when you need something you're just out of luck."

But HOA attorney Sara Webner released a statement saying in part, "The Association is working tirelessly to address owner and tenant displacement. We are assembling a team of experts to investigate the cause of the structural damage including construction on neighboring property which we suspect may be the underlying cause."

While some suspect nearby construction, Moffett said, "I think it's a sinkhole, because the building shifted and ... water was there." 

They plan to stay at a hotel until other arrangements are made.

"It's like a nightmare. You wake up, and it's not true. It's like a nightmare; it's not right."

Webner said she has notified their insurance carriers and plans to work with all tenants, even renters to get them back in their home as soon as possible.