Displaced Section 8 tenants in Griffin forced to move again days before Christmas

GRIFFIN, Ga. - Griffin residents who were ordered to move out of a Section 8 housing complex earlier this year due to unsafe living conditions say they’ve been forced to move again. This time—out of the motel they’d been staying in just days before Christmas.

One woman told FOX 5 she refuses to leave because she believes the Baymont she’s been staying at is her best chance at a decent Christmas. 

"To be treated like this is unfair," tenant Carol Bishop said.

Four months after residents of Ava Park Apartments were evacuated from their homes due to rat and mold infestations on the property, she and others are spending the holidays in area motels as they wait on approval for new housing vouchers.

"We was told to bring only a duffle bag. We wasn’t expecting to be here this long," Bishop told FOX 5.

She says finding the holiday spirit has become even more difficult in the days since they were told by federal housing officials Friday that they needed to leave the motel that had just started to feel like a home.

"Leumas came in for us to sign some papers not knowing we were going to be transferred to another hotel. We had to do it, they said, because some tenants complained," she recalled. "But we didn’t complain."

Though the move is to another motel right across the street, Bishop says it’s a hassle days before the holiday, and a downgrade with no way to cook a Christmas dinner.

"We were able to at least use a crockpot to cook in, because we’ll have to go out and get food every day," she explained.

She says after all they’ve been through this year, it’s just one more inconvenience.

"We didn’t ask to come here…we would rather be at our own home fixing our own dinners with our own families celebrating," Bishop added.

FOX 5 has reached out to Leumas Residential, the group federal housing officials contracted with for the re-location effort, to get more information about what prompted this move. They tell us they’re unable to comment because of their agreement with HUD. We’re still waiting to hear back from HUD officials.