People living in the Americana apartment complex in Mountain View, California were forced to move out of their residences due to asbestos dust in the building.

Prometheus Real Estate Group is planning to install new roofs on 5 out of the 22 apartments, and the apartment owners did not want a liability so they asked all residents to leave so that the asbestos dust could be cleaned up before they returned. Why the asbestos in the building? Well it turns out that the building was built in the 1970s and have fire-retardant ceilings (”popcorn” ceilings) and these contain asbestos.

Each of the roofs will take 3 weeks to install, so it looks like the residents of the apartment complex wont be coming home anytime soon. The apartment owners are also giving renters the option of terminating their lease early if they choose not to come back.

It also seems like the residents are already upset with the building owners. One resident stated, “They are asking us to move our lives over (in one weekend). But they’ve been planning this for months.”

The building owners are required by law to get everyone out of the building before performing renovations if there is suspicion of asbestos.