ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – A sign posted on the door of an Altamonte Springs apartment unit where a man got his foot stuck when part of the floor collapsed Friday deems the unit “unsafe” by order of the city of Altamonte Springs. No one is allowed to enter or occupy the unit because of “serious damage,” according to the notice.
“I was pretty much stuck,” Michael Proferes said.
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News 6 spoke with Michael Proferes Tuesday at his apartment at Altamira Place, where he showed us the damage. He is on crutches and said he is unable to go to work since he was injured.
“I’m not doing great,” Proferes said. “I just really want to go back to work and I just want to be in a place that feels safe.”
Cell phone video recorded by his neighbor shows firefighters helping him get free Friday. The fire department described the incident as a “partial collapse of floor” at an apartment on the third story.
Proferes said he was talking to his upstairs neighbor when he stepped out of her front door and fell through the floor. In the video, you can hear a woman’s voice say, ‘We were just talking about how that fell last week and the other side is pretty much rotting. Clearly, it’s not livable.’”
Proferes allowed our cameras inside his unit to see the state of his balcony and the building. He claims it’s been this way for months.
“I’ve been sending them emails vigorously asking them just please, please relocate me. That’s all I wanted,” Proferes said.
News 6 asked what communication Proferes has had with the apartment complex since the collapse. He said he received a couple emails “stating that someone was going to check and tell me what was going to happen.”
Caution tape now surrounds the area upstairs where there is a hole in the floor. Proferes said other neighbors have been given options to relocate, but he feels like he has no options at this point.
“All I’ve wanted is just to be relocated to some place safe so I can live, have people over,” Proferes said. “I couldn’t even have a real Christmas this year because of the way my apartment was.”
Papers posted on the windows of the unit below Proferes show a “stop work” order, next to permits to repair falling stucco dated November 2022.
“They told me that there was a water leak on the first floor that led to all these problems,” Proferes said.
Proferes claims the work on the building started after that reported leak.
Our crew went to the front office at Altamira Place for answers, and no one was there. We did leave messages with the apartment complex and their corporate office.
The city of Altamonte Springs was able to provide some insight. They’ve asked the complex to hire an engineer so plans for repairs can be made and the rest of the building can also be looked at.
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