They were given 24 hours to leave their condo building. Now they're sleeping in cars.

NORTH PROVIDENCE − Residents of Canterbury Village condos in North Providence were given 24 hours to leave Monday afternoon, with some saying they will be sleeping in their cars because the building was condemned by fire officials.

The building, one of two in the 79 Ivan Street complex, has been a known problem to the city since pipes burst in February. And after receiving an anonymous tip over the weekend, North Providence Fire Chief John Silva III went to the building to check it out with his fire marshal.

Inside, he found that demolition crews had torn out the ceilings and insulation on all three floors, exposing the trusses. If a fire were to start, the apartment would be go up incredibly quickly, Silva said. He assigned a firefighter to be on watch during the night because the building was such a fire hazard.

What he saw made Silva want to condemn the building immediately, though North Providence Mayor Charles Lombardi negotiated to give residents of the more than 50 units 24 hours to vacate.

Mayor promises to find housing for displaced renters

For the estimated 15 to 17 renters who have been displaced and have nowhere else to go, Lombardi said the city will find accommodations for them and then put a lien on their landlord's units for the amount the city pays to put them up.

An estimated 10% of the units were owner occupied, Silva said.

Town blames condo association for refusing repairs

Building Official Michael Campagnone said the repair work in the wake of the burst pipes – if it was done – should have taken six to nine months.

"Hopefully it goes quicker now that we've got their attention," Lombardi said.

Lombardi said the town has been trying to get issues at the condo complex fixed since the initial pipe burst in February, but officials were met with resistance and excuses from the condo association.

In February, Campagnone asked the condo association to hire an architect to draw up plans for remediation.

"They laughed at me," he said.

The town has repeatedly taken the condo association to municipal court for issues with the building, but the association kept asking for delay after delay, Lombardi said.

Who is on the condo association board?

Two people are listed as president of the board, Laurence Levey, with an address in Plainville, Massachusetts for an office building, and Laurence S. Levey, with the same address as the management company, Vista Management. The treasurer and director is Jamie B. Levey, with the same Plainville address. Laurence S. Levey also is listed as a director with the same Plainville address.

Vincent Borelli of Greenville is listed as the vice president and director.

Vista Management appears as the condo association's registered agent in state business registration records but does not appear to be registered as a company.

The management company did not respond to requests for comment.

The 50% fire code rule

When the condo association hires an architect, they will need to complete a cost analysis to see how much the repairs will cost. If the repairs will cost at least 50% of the value of the building, then the entire building, built in 1974, will need to be brought up to modern fire standards, including the installation of a fire sprinkler system, Campagnone said.

Water was an issue long before condemnation

Outside the building Tuesday morning, people were loading their possessions into moving trucks, passing items through floor-level windows to people loading vehicles outside.

Peter Botvin moved into the basement apartment of the complex six months ago, and while he liked it at first, problems just kept happening. For example, found his window was never properly installed and was leaking water into the wall.

When the unit flooded, he helped replace the carpeting with his landlord, Keith O'Brien, who owns three units in the complex, two of them affected by the condemnation, including the one he lived in.

Botvin pointed to an exposed area of green sheetrock in his bedroom, along the floor.

"All that green sheetrock was black," he said.

The floor was so wet, the glue, designed to dry within 15 minutes, was still sticky after three hours. He has been running two dehumidifiers all day every day, with his electricity bill soaring from $32 a month to $140.

"The bed is always moist," he said, pressing down on his sheets.

Botvin pulled aside his oven, pried back a piece of sheetrock and shined a light into a space below his floor, with standing water, which he believes has been there for a very long time. Black flies come from the space in the summer, he said.

Only one of the two buildings on the site have been affected by the condemnation, but owners in both buildings said their condo fees keep going up.

O'Brien said got together with another unit owner to threaten to sue the condo association over repairs that were never done.

No hot water, no heat

The entire building was without hot water for eight days, officials and residents said, and recently was without heat. Since the insulation was torn out of the common areas, that meant there was nothing to keep the building from dropping to the ambient night temperature, 44 degrees, at night.

Sleeping in cars, trucks, vans

Botvin said he plans to sleep in his van for the foreseeable future, leaving everything behind but his clothes, while his landlord, O'Brien, plans to sleep in his truck.

Justin Sylvia, who owns a unit in the condemned building, said he plans to stay with some friends, but he, too, has had issues with management after it took them three weeks to get him a spare key.

"It's a 30- to 40-minute trip to work," he said.

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Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: North Providence Canterbury Village condos condemned. Renters forced to leave