Residents at The Vault apartments in Statesboro are scrambling to find somewhere to live after being told to move out by management.

According to the City, an independent contractor reported finding rotting wood foundations and other structural damage at the apartment complex. The City put management on notice Friday, April 4.

“I work for a small family company and they’re letting me keep my stuff in the corner of the warehouse,” said one resident. “Thank god that he’s letting me do that.”

“It’s messed up man,” another resident said. “People work hard and then pay rent just to come home and find out you don’t have anywhere to stay – what?”

 Residents tell News 3 it wasn’t until this week – after rent was due – that management told them there was a problem. They left letters on their doors saying “The city has instructed us to vacate the property by the end of the day Friday” – despite that not being stated in the City’s letter.

“They’re claiming they’re going to give us back our rent from paying just a couple days ago but I don’t even see how they’re going to do that,” that resident said.

“We literally have to scramble to find apartments,” said a student living there. “It’s awful and then dealing with school on top of that and some people have work it’s like what do we do?”

They tell us because of the confusing messaging – they have a lot of questions.

“Where am I going to go? What am I going to do?” said one resident. “We don’t get phone calls, we don’t get emails, we don’t get anything. We get these pieces of paper stuck to our door that when the wind hits it flies away.”

Many of the people we spoke to were in the process of, or planning on moving out. They say finding another place has its challenges since many other leases open up seasonally as students sign up for classes. They add that now they’re having to compete with their neighbors who are also looking for a new lease.

“I don’t know what else to do… They didn’t give us enough time,” said the student.

According to the City’s letter, The Vault has until Monday to respond with a plan on how they will bring their buildings up to code. Georgia Southern officials tell News 3 that any student who is facing housing loss at The Vault to contact the Dean of Students Office.