CABOT, AR – The Cabot Fire Marshal put a notice on everyone’s door Friday at the Alpine Village Apartments.
The notice gave them until 6 p.m. to get out after the complex was determined to not be up to code.
The owner of the complex was out helping his tenants and said he was ready and willing to meet those codes, but wasn’t even given a chance.
“I’ve never been evicted from a place in my life,” said tenant William St. John. “We’re homeless! My son paid a motel room for me for two days.”
Others have been sleeping outside. Cabot has no shelters. While some have suggested they stay at a church, the evicted tenants it’s no solution for their problem.
“We go to churches they give us one night,” says St. John.
“I did all I could,” says complex owner Rudy Kissinger.
He said he was told last week he needed to do some repairs to get the building up to code.
“I had the electrician out here the next morning but before he could do anything,” he said. “They decided to shut them all down.”
It was the fire marshal who then ordered the evacuation to be immediate.
“I mean I had an electrician out here,” said Kissinger. “He was on the premises.”
The Cabot mayor declined to speak to us on camera but said over the phone that Kissinger is responsible for making accommodations for his tenets.
Kissinger, however, believes the city has ulterior motives.
“This is the fourth or fifth low income place in Cabot they’ve closed,” he said. “I think they want them all closed down and they’re going to do what they can do to close them down.”