MY QUESTION IS: WHY MAKE THEM MOVE ONLY DAYS AFTER THEY PAID THEIR MAY RENT INSTEAD OF EARLIER?

A truly disgraceful situation is currently underway at a St. Petersburg apartment complex. After weeks of warnings by Pinellas County Code Enforcement to improve conditions at the Chinook Apartments and inspectors saying that conditions have actually deteriotated, the complex has been determined to be unhabitable. Residents have been ordered to get out, with electricity be disconnected before dark.

Watching coverage on television, I see that they have been told that police would guard the property overnight so that those residents who are unable to finish emptying their belongings today could do so Wednesday.

However, the complex owner is nowhere to be found at this point, although a city official did speak to him via telephone earlier in the afternoon. The owner is no stranger to code enforcement officials, having a long laundry list of citations going back 13 years.

What really upsets me right now is that this action came only days after many of the residents had already paid their May rent, and as a result many have noone else to stay unless it is with friends or family members who are able to put them up temporairly. Of course, it doesn't help that the Tampa Bay area has a severe shortage of affordable housing or apartments that low income residents can call home

Something should have been done much earlier in this situation to help these folks, and something must be done to change the system to prevent slumlords such as this fellow to continue getting by with constant warnings and no action.