MIAMI – The landlord of a Miami apartment complex has until Thursday to fix the building's electrical problems or the power will be shut off. Some of the tenants have special needs and use machines that require electricity to survive.
Local 10 News learned that a city inspector, and an electrician found evidence that someone had tampered with the electrical equipment in the three-story building off Northwest 62nd Street and 12th Avenue.
There are 21 units in the building, 15 of which are occupied. Most residents have young children and some have special needs, including David Brown, who's paralyzed from the chest down and Jemeena Grimes, who suffers from COPD.
On Wednesday morning they all received a letter, hand delivered by UPS, from Florida, Power and Light advising them that the electrical conditions, specifically the wiring and set up in the meter room, are unsafe. The letter also indicated that if their landlord doesn't make repairs by Thursday morning electricity to the entire building will be disconnected.
"I'm on a fixed income, I get disability," said Grimes. "I don't have a place where I can just up and leave. Even if the repairs are made they're telling us we still need leave anyway because the power is going to be off for quite some time while repairs are being made."
Local 10 News spoke with the one of the people running the building, who said they are working on the problems.
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