CHARLOTTE — The 68 residents at the Lamplighter Inn in northwest Charlotte have less than three weeks to pack up and get out because of unsafe living conditions left by the property owner.
“The struggle is real. That’s the best way I can say it,” said tenant Bashir Muhammad, who has lived at the motel for six months.
He said the conditions have been unsettling and inhumane.
Channel 9 was at the motel earlier this month where there were backed-up tubs filled with feces with the floors coming apart.
Residents said that’s only a snapshot of their reality.
“Pretty much just playing Russian roulette with the power,” Muhammad said. “Went the whole month of November with no hot water. Got no heat.”
City officials announced on Friday that the northwest Charlotte motel will close in 19 days after they deemed it unsafe for residents.
They said in recent weeks, the property owner has disconnected the utilities, ignored housing code violations, and failed to maintain the site.
“No money saved up -- the hotel -- it pretty much sucked us dry out of everything, and then left us high and dry and ran,” Muhammad said.
“It’s deplorable,” said Robert Dawkins, the political director at Action NC. “And, you know, it hurts to be a Charlottean and have a city that’s got a picture of a crown and have people living and stuff like this.”
Action NC is one of the city’s partners doing the groundwork to relocate tenants to other hotels.
“We gather up all their information and make sure that they can get the assessment done so we can get them moved out of this as quick as we can,” Dawkins said.
Help is on the way but tenants said they should be planning for the holidays and not having to find another place to stay.
Crisis Assistance Ministry got the utilities turned back on until the Dec 11 deadline.
Any resident unable to relocate by then will either be provided temporary housing at another hotel or financial assistance.
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