Tenants of a property in King City demand better living conditions.

A community of renters living at 450 Jayne St., a 3.3-acre property with 30 two-bedroom apartments and three mobile homes located on the outskirts of King City, are fed up with the state of the apartments they live in. They organized a protest outside of their homes on Monday, June 22 demanding improved living conditions after what they say are months of no response from the property manager, Salinas-based TGO Co.

Ofelia González, a tenant who lives there with her husband and three children, pays $2,000 for a two-bedroom apartment. Their unit has holes in the floor, a wobbly toilet and outdoor faucets were shut off.

The tenants are low-income families, many of them farmworkers from the Mixteco community. The nonprofit Center for Community Advocacy helped tenants get in touch with TGO in an effort to address more than 50 issues they have found, including broken or unsafe heaters, mold, electrical issues and cockroach infestations.

CCA became aware of the issues about a year ago and began working intensively with the tenants in March. In April and May a lawyer sent letters on behalf of the tenants seeking to get the issues addressed, to no avail.

In cases where repairs were made – as was the case with González and Elizabeth, a neighbor who asked to be identified by first name – electrical wiring got needed attention but tenants say they were charged for the service the following month.

Some tenants lack legal immigration status and are reluctant to speak up.

“TGO Co. has shown lack of concern for the issues brought forth by the families,” CCA said in a statement.

TGO did not respond by the Weekly’s deadline.