Help is coming to the residents of Hotel California in Central Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The parking lot at Hotel California was transformed into tables of resources. Tenants filled out paperwork and answered questions to determine what services they were eligible for.

Antoinette Castaneda got great news in just a few hours.

"We were told to go down Monday morning about 8 or 9 o' clock in the morning and they would have a two bedroom apartment for $695 for us. So I'm really excited for that."

The task force, created by city leaders, is intended to help tenants relocate.

Several serious health and safety issues prompted the city of Fresno to shut down the housing complex.

Richard Burrell hosts a bible study outreach at the Hotel California twice a week and says the hazards have been apparent for a while.

"There's seven rooms on this bottom floor. Five of those seven rooms had the ceilings cave in within a two week period. We had spoken to code enforcement and the owner here about issues of mold."

Cheryl Your is single with a fixed income. Falling asleep Thursday night wasn't easy because of the uncertainty that lies ahead. Monday will be here quick.

"I go to sleep crying, I wake up crying, it's like where am I going to go? And I still don't know if I'm going to have an answer at the end of this. They're not guaranteed to have a place for us, so what do we do?"

The owner of the complex said he is willing to refund rent to those who paid for the month. But he met with his attorney Friday to figure out what else he needs to come up with.

Representatives from Central California Legal Services were also at the motel to help residents recuperate what they are entitled to.

Residents must be out by Monday; the electricity will also be turned off by then. But most of the appliances were already removed Thursday due to a breaker overload and fire hazard.