Residents of an apartment complex in Jacksonville, Florida, were suddenly forced out of their homes due to collapsing ground.

A few weeks after the Presidium Regal apartments opened last year, some tenants began reporting problems with their units, saying their floors were unstable or sinking under the weight of their furniture.

‘I would never have moved in if I had known that was the case,’ said first floor resident Reggie Wilson News4Jax.

The resort-like complex has a large pool and colorful common areas for residents, while the apartments look stylish and modern.

A few weeks after the Presidium Regal apartments opened last year, some tenants began reporting problems with their units, saying their floors were unstable or sinking under the weight of their furniture.

A sign on the floor of the Presidium Regal apartment

‘Live carefree every day,’ reads Presidium Regal’s website. ‘With impressive finishes and resort-quality amenities, our apartments make it possible to live beyond your expectations.’

Residents said they felt misled, believing management had kept them in the dark about the building’s problems.

“I thought they should have told us before we moved in that we had a problem here, just to explain something they knew,” third-floor resident Brooks Werkheiser told News4Jax.

‘They knew there was this problem.’

On October 3, people living on the second, third and fourth floors received a notice that they had to move out of their apartments due to construction work.

Although management did not specify what the problems were, the complex told News4Jax: ‘After discovering a construction issue with the flooring, we were left with no choice but to relocate residents.

‘And although this is not a safety concern, the scope of work that needs to be completed requires residents to evacuate the units.’

According to the letter obtained by the news outlet, residents were given three options.

Citizens complain about the ground not being smooth. Apartment complex notifies residents they must move out before construction begins

Residents of the site shared images of the flooring problems they experienced while living in apartments.

The first of these was ‘permanent transfer’, which allowed people to move into a new unit in the property under a 14 or 15 month lease with two months’ rent free.

The second was ‘temporary transfer’, which stated that residents could only move into a new unit for 60 days until construction was completed. Tenants will receive one month of free rent when they return to their apartments.

The last option was to terminate their current lease for free and move out by October 31st.

While the moving costs for the first two options are covered by Presidium Regal, those who choose the third are on their own.

Werkheiser chose to terminate its lease after living in the complex for only six months.

“This has been a significant hassle and a significant disruption to our home,” he told News4Jax.

‘This isn’t fair. So we moved here and paid me a $3,000 moving bill that they had to pay me back, and I’m getting ready to pay that again.’

While Wilson didn’t have to move because he doesn’t live on an affected floor, he said he was disappointed by management’s lack of communication on the issue.

Some buildings in the complex are experiencing flooring problems on the second, third and fourth floors

“They didn’t tell anyone on the first floor what was going on,” he told News4Jax.

‘You were not receiving any official notification. The only way you’d know is if one day you looked up and saw everyone in your building from the second floor to the fourth floor was moving out.’

Both Wilson and Werkheiser said they believe the establishment’s owners and management have known about the flooring problems since at least late last year.

The flooring issues affected only two buildings in the complex, News4Jax reported.