LEESBURG, Fla. – Residents at a Leesburg motel have days to find a new place to live unless the motel owner pays tens of thousands of dollars in back utility bills.
The city of Leesburg says the owner of the Stay and Save Inn made no attempt to pay nearly $40,000 in back electric bills, resulting in the city turning off the power on Monday afternoon for hours.
The city said last week they gave the owner until Friday to pay the bills and he didn't, so they shut off the power.
Later in the day, the city decided to give the owner more time and turned the power back on until Friday.
Residents say they don't have confidence the owner will pay so many are trying to find a place to go.
"I have three kids, two in elementary and one in high school and my husband is disabled," said Brenda Crawford. "And we're all in this small little room trying to make it work and making it our home and now we have to get out."
The city said it's looking into how it can help residents find a new place to live. The city said it didn't warn residents directly, but say that was at the owner's request.
Local 6 tried to contact the owner, but was unable to and was told the owner may live out of the country.