News | Iceland Monitor | Tue 9 Dec 2014 | 12.07 GMT | Modified at 22.04

Eviction shock for tenants in illegal apartment

Adrian Staszczuk had packed into a suitcase when he was told that he could remain in the building for the night. According to Staszczuk many of the tenants broke down when told they were to be evicted. mbl.is/Ómar Óskarsson

Tenants of an illegal rental building in Kópavogur were shocked last night when the city fire department arrived to evict them. The building stands at Nýbýlavegur 4 in Kópavogur and is part of the building complex that once housed the Toyota dealership. Inside are ten rooms which all have tenants. Despite repeated warnings, the owner of the building had not made necessary safety amendments. The owner and the fire department finally came to an agreement to postpone eviction proceedings until today. Many of the tenants broke down in tears at the prospect of being evicted before Christmas.

Fire safety not met in the building

According to Bjarni Kjartansson at the fire department's safety department, the owner had received several warnings and eviction proceedings had already been postponed on several occasions. "The final warning had been given and therefore we had to take this action," he explains. " I spoke to both tenants and the owner tonight and there seems to be a certain misunderstanding between them. We will meet the owner tomorrow and hopefully he can find a fast solution so that we won't have to continue with the eviction proceedings." According to Kjartansson, there is considerable fire hazard in the building. It also came to light that more people were renting in the building than the fire department had information about.

Families with children living in some rooms

According to one of the tenants, Adrian Staszczuk, he had already paid the December rent but that last week a note was put up announcing that tenants would have to move out. However, tenants then received information from the owner not to worry as everything would be sorted out and were therefore very shocked when the fire department and the Red Cross knocked on their doors last night. "People were almost paralyzed with shock and some broke down," says Staszczuk. He had packed a suitcase when it was announced that they could stay the night. According to Staszczuk. families with children live in some of the rooms. "I'm very uncertain as to what will happen next, I don't know how long we can stay here."

Watch an interview with Staszcsuk HERE.