CHARLOTTE, NC – Dozens of people living in Lamplighter Inn are being forced out because city officials say the owner of the property has ignored code enforcement violations and racked up more than $13,000 in fines. The conditions inside the rooms at the West Charlotte hotel are are so bad that the City of Charlotte is shutting it down and working with non profits to help residents find another hotel to occupy. Hassan Hoff is one of at least 68 residents who called the Lamplighter Inn home. He had been living there for six months enduring the conditions. “The heat don’t work in my room,” Hoff said. “My daughter is sick right now with a cold because the heat that’s not working.” Hoff said he was paying anywhere from $1,200 to $1,800 a month. He says the owners of the hotel would change their prices often. “I worked two jobs while going to school to get my own place,” Hoff said. “Just for me to lose it in a year because they don’t want to pay me enough to support my living.” People living at Lamplighter will be forced out of the building on December 11th. City officials say the owners of the hotel refused to pay utilities and fix 21 open code violations racking up more than 13 thousand dollars in fines. Crisis Assistance Ministry paid the utilities until December 12th. Robert Dawkins with Action NC is a part of the group of non profits working to relocate residents to other hotels. “This is a problem of a bad landlord with the city not having passed things to protect from bad landlords, because all they can do is fine them,” Dawkins said. Dawkins says non-profits will also be advocating for policies that help secure affordable housing while protecting tenants. “It’s not just a Charlotte problem, it’s an American capitalism problem,” Dawkins said. “What we have here is the average rent in Charlotte for a one bedroom is $1,400. So what is a family of five supposed to do?” Residents will be given the option to move to another hotel for a maximum of 90 days. Hoff says the 90 days will get him through the holidays with his family helping him breathe a sigh of relief. “I’m going to need that time to get all that money that I stacked up and saved for the past year,” Hoff said. Anyone staying at Lamplighter must be out by December 11th when utilities are cut off. Representatives from non-profits have been stopping by the hotel each day to help people relocate.