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ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Tenants at The Rialto<\/a> apartments filed a class action lawsuit \u2013 accusing the apartment owners of breach of contract \u2013 after 200 units were evacuated due to “structural concerns.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, the tenants of the Doctor Phillips complex, located in Orange County, demand damages in excess of $50,000 due to moving and relocation costs \u2013 as well as the loss of use and the enjoyment of the dwelling units, the lawsuit said.\u00a0<\/p>\n What we know:<\/p>\n Tenants of The Rialto are suing the complex’s owners and management \u2013 Northland Rialto, LLC and Northland Investment Corporation, based in Massachusetts \u2013 after their units were deemed inhabitable due to structure concerns<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hundreds were evacuated from an apartment building in Orange County on Thursday, March 19, after potential concerns with the building’s stability.\u00a0 <\/p>\n The apartment complex is located on W. Sand Lake Road. It’s part of a mixed-use building, where several businesses are located beneath the apartments.<\/p>\n The issues were first reported around 4 a.m., March 19, when a 911 caller<\/a> reported hearing “popping noises” throughout the building, and feared that the building was going to collapse.<\/p>\n “We’re trapped in our apartment. We think the building’s going to collapse or something. We can’t open any of our doors,” the woman told the 911 dispatcher.<\/p>\n “None of our doors are opening,” a man jumps in and tells the 911 dispatcher.<\/p>\n Photos from inside and outside The Rialto Apartments on W. Sand Lake Road in Orange County, Florida. Credit: Orange County Building Division <\/p>\n Approximately 358 people\u00a0were\u00a0displaced\u00a0from the property and were forced to relocate\u00a0and\u00a0find\u00a0new\u00a0housing, along\u00a0with incurring relocation\u00a0costs, the lawsuit said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Officials responded and reportedly noticed several cracks inside and outside the apartment complex, raising concerns about the building’s structural integrity. Firefighters had to pry open several doors<\/a>, which were jammed, according to Orange County Fire Rescue.<\/p>\n A decision was made to then evacuate the building as fast as possible. At the time of the evacuation, the complex was 93% occupied, the lawsuit said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hundreds were evacuated from an apartment building in Orange County on Thursday, March 19, after potential concerns with the building’s stability.\u00a0 <\/p>\n See more:\u00a0<\/p>\n The Rialto Apartments: 398 evacuated over ‘structural instability’; new photos released<\/a> Inspections, evaluations underway at The Rialto Apartments: Latest updates<\/a> Checks for relocation costs bounced, lawsuit says <\/p>\n According to the lease agreement provided in the court filing, a tenant named as one of the plaintiffs pays $2,345 a month. Apartment sizes range from 824 square feet to 1,564 square feet for one to three-bedroom apartments.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the court filing, tenants were given a sum of $1,000 per apartment to cover relocation costs. However, the lawsuit alleges that the checks bounced.<\/p>\n Upon signing a lease agreement, tenants believed the property was habitable, free from construction defects and a safe location in which to live and reside, the lawsuit said. Now, after learning about the structural issues of the building, the tenants believe Northland failed to comply with applicable building codes, the court filing said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Who is Northland Rialto, LLC?\u00a0 <\/p>\n The five-story apartment complex that holds 200 units is just over 10 years old. Construction began in 2013 and finished in 2014.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to its website<\/a>, The Rialto is described as being luxury apartments with an open-concept kitchen, smart home appliances and a resort-style swimming pool \u2013 as well as being close to some of Orlando’s largest employers, such as Palm Beach Atlantic University, Orlando Health, and Walt Disney World Resort<\/p>\n Northland Rialto, LLC is based in Newton, Mass. and has a management office located in Orlando.\u00a0<\/p>\n Northland acquired it’s fourth Orlando property<\/a> \u2013 The Rialto \u2013 in 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n Apartment owner responds <\/p>\n Though declining to respond to pending litigation \u2013 acknowledging the company is aware of the lawsuit \u2013 Northland addressed the “distruptive” and “stressful” week upon its residents. In a March 26 statement to FOX 35, Northland said:\u00a0<\/p>\n “Our top priority continues to be the safety and well-being of our residents. We recognize how disruptive and stressful the past week has been, and we understand the very real challenges residents are facing as they navigate temporary housing and uncertainty about next steps.<\/p>\n “Based on ongoing guidance from our engineering team, additional time is needed to complete a thorough and careful assessment of the building. This work is complex and must be done methodically to ensure we fully understand the conditions and determine the appropriate path forward. At this stage, we do not yet have a definitive timeline for when the investigation will be complete or when further details can be shared.<\/p>\n “Given this uncertainty, we have begun planning for next steps to support residents. We will be communicating directly with residents in the coming days with more information.<\/p>\n “We remain committed to working as quickly and responsibly as possible, and we will continue to keep residents informed as we learn more. We appreciate their patience and resilience during this difficult time.”<\/p>\n What’s next:<\/p>\n Orange County’s Building Division of Building Safety has ordered the building’s property management company to hire a licensed engineer or architect to conduct a complete evacuation of the building. Residents can’t return to their units until that happens.<\/p>\n The Source: Information in this story was gathered from a court filing in Orange County, Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n Orange County News<\/a>Orlando News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Tenants at The Rialto apartments filed a class action lawsuit \u2013 accusing the apartment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[47,28,30,29,115,1335,139,628],"class_list":["post-207780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dr-phillips-apt-evacs-2.png\")
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The Rialto Apartments: Latest updates, evacuations, inspections<\/a><\/p>\n
911 calls released in Rialto apartments evacuation: ‘We’re trapped in our apartment’<\/a><\/p>\n