Water turned off to 22 apartments in Merced after landlord repeatedly failed to pay the bill

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- There are 22 apartments in Merced without water after the city said, the owner of the complex failed, repeatedly, to pay the bill.

The city has since turned the water back on for the sake of the tenants.

At the complex in Merced, there are few things Bianca Orozco can count on. One is, the daily noise of passing Amtrak trains and another, is a monthly notice from the city for the water bill.

"Every month we get a yellow paper that the owner never pays the water."

According to the city the owner of the complex started missing payments in September. Checks were bouncing, and this month a $2,200 bill was ignored. So on Tuesday, the water was shut off.

"Horrible, very horrible, honestly," said Orozco.

Assistant City Manager, Mike Conway, said the payment came in the same day-- the water was turned on 24 hours later, but there's still a problem with the account.

"Because he was so late and was habitually late on the water bill, he owes us a deposit, we require that of all people."

The deposit is another $3,200 and Conway said the owner needs to work something out with the city or the apartment complex could be shut down and everyone would have to move out.

"Where else am I gonna go? It's all I have," said a resident.

One woman moved in because the rent is cheap, but she said her stove doesn't work, she has roaches, and a broken air conditioner so she stopped writing checks.

"He wants his money, but he won't fix nothing," said the resident.

Orozco also stopped paying rent, but she plans to leave soon to find something better for her family. Because she isn't sure how long she can count on having running water, here.