HARTFORD--Residents and the city are at odds over temporary housing after a fire last month left 32 without a home.
The fire at 56 Vine St. did a lot of damage to the building, and it will take four to six months for it to be inhabitable again.
In the meantime, residents have been staying at a local Super 8 on the city's dime. State law requires cities to help with temporary relocation in the event of a fire.
Hartford says it goes above and beyond the requirements.
"Hartford’s practice is to extend the necessary services, often beyond the requirements of state law, to provide for our residents displaced by fire or other unsafe living conditions."
Residents say they were told they'd have to leave on Sunday, August 9, and that the city would no longer pay for the hotels. Residents were nervous, and called a community meeting on Friday to air their grievances.
However, the city says it's all a misunderstanding. Mayor Pedro Segarra's office says the 56 Vine St. property manager, Housing Resources Corp., will be taking over the payment for the hotel until the residents can be moved to more permanent housing.
"The August 9 checkout date was tentative and the 56 Vine St. tenants were never going to be forced out of this temporary housing," Segarra's office said.
The city has worked with Housing Resources Corp. and the Housing and Urban Development Department to find other temporary housing while the homes are being repaired, and they recently found interim apartments on Bedford and Edward streets.