The Grandview Apartments in Paso Robles have announced that they will go out of business, instead of making repairs to their housing units.
Starting Friday, the owners of Grandview can give tenants notices to vacate.
Tenants will either have 60 or 90 days to find a new home depending on how long they've lived at the complex.
John Fowler with People's Self-Help Housing says this decision could leave 54 families without many places to go.
"They would become unstable. Obviously, because they're living hand to mouth, they don't have a lot of resources, not a lot of savings, so that means if they lose their housing, there's a good chance they lose their job," Fowler said.
In May, tenants filed a class action lawsuit against the owners of Grandview, claiming they were living in units that were insect and vermin-infested, had cockroaches, rats, and bed bugs, and even mold.
After the court allowed the owners to inspect the property to see how costly repairs would be, the owners decided to instead shut down their business and sell the property.
Fowler says there's less than two percent vacancy for housing units in Paso Robles, making this decision difficult for Grandview's tenants.
Stephanie Barclay, legal director with the San Luis Obispo Assistance Foundation, represents the tenants and says the organization will work with the community to help find the tenants housing in a tight market.
The owners of the Grandview Apartments have been ordered to pay $1,000 to each unit for having to relocate and return the full security deposit within a week after moving out.
