Rialto tenants still displaced after evacuation

ORLANDO, Fla. — Hundreds of Orange County tenants are still unable to sleep in their own beds, after evacuating The Rialto apartment building on Thursday.

Fire crews responded to the scene last week when a woman called 911, saying she couldn’t open her door and heard loud popping noises. The building was cleared due to structural instability concerns.

All day Monday, dozens of residents came in and out of the building, getting their belongings. On site there was also a group of contractors with Servpro, a disaster restoration and cleanup services company. But so far there is no timeline on when residents will be able to come back home.

“I am, to be honest like functional because I didn’t have time to be, shocked or distressed because, like, you have one place to leave, you have a home, and then the next day you don’t,” Rialto resident Ana Gomes said.

For residents like Gomes, the uncertainty of not knowing when they’ll be able to come back is disruptive.

“They are still evaluating what the problem is and what’s really going on because they don’t really have a straight answer to give us,” Gomes said.

She says they got an update from the building management company saying they will waive the rest of the month for tenants for the number of days they’re displaced, and that they will give each resident $1,000 to help with expenses.

When it comes to what tenants can do in the meantime, if they have renters insurance, John Tankersley, President of Pine Street Insurance, said they have options.

“Most renters policies, and they’re called HO-4 for that’s the policy form they’re on. Most of them do include sinkhole or catastrophic ground loss, which in this instance for The Rialto last week this would be a covered peril for the for the policyholders,” Tankersley said.

He says the first step in the process should be to call your insurance agent.

“They can verify deductibles and coverages for you. And there is some coverage in the renter’s policy called Loss of Sse, where you need to relocate because the building that you’re currently in is uninhabitable and they have to condemn it. There is a coverage in there for you as a renter to go somewhere else,” Tankersley said.

In addition to reaching out and confirming your policy details, Tankersley says documentation is crucial.

“It’s great to take a video of all your belongings in the in the apartment or the townhome or the house. You can buy renter’s insurance for any type of structure because you’ve got documentation of your contents and you know where everything’s at. And it really does make you proactive and be prepared for, if you have a loss like this,” Tankersley said.

In a statement, the county stated they have yet to receive an update on the building inspection report.

“Orange County recognizes the hardship facing residents of the Rialto Apartments who have been displaced since Thursday morning, and we remain committed to keeping the public informed as this situation unfolds. The County’s Division of Building Safety has not yet received the required inspection report from the property manager, which is necessary to determine next steps and ensure the safety of residents. Once the engineering report becomes available, the Orange County Division of Building Safety will assess any engineering requirements to verify that all life-safety requirements are in place, in hopes of people being able to return to their homes as soon as possible. We will share updates with our media partners once the report is received and has been reviewed”

In the meantime, Gomes said tenants were also given the option to live in another property owned by the same company, or come back if the building can be deemed safe at some point.

Once the engineering report becomes available, the county will assess the building to make sure all life-safety requirements are in place before they can allow people back into their homes.

Northland, the company that owns the building, did not return a request for comment.