Katherine Grimm said she just wanted a chance to move all her belongings.
"All I want is a decent time to get packed up and move out," Grimm said on Monday.
The next day, officials from the city’s real estate department evicted the occupants and took over the three-family house at 111 Arlington Ave., forcing all tenants to leave. The city’s health department and animal control were also present at the scene.
According to Jersey City Deputy Mayor Anthony Cruz, Grimm owed approximately $180,000 in back taxes. Grimm acknowledged she was delinquent in paying taxes on her property and that her utilities had been turned off. "But one of the other tenants can’t get storage until Friday," Grimm said.
Cruz added the city would alert the Hudson County Red Cross, which would temporarily shelter Grimm and the other tenants.
"We are giving them one-day shelter when the people are on welfare or assistance," said Rick Perez, emergency services specialist at the Hudson County Red Cross. "A letter was sent to the Hudson County Division of Social Services for all the people who were in the apartment."
Perez added that Grimm was on SSI and the other tenants were on some kind of assistance, so their cases would be referred to their particular agencies.
"I haven’t got a call from Grimm and the others, so I assume the agencies have taken care of them," Perez said.
Grimm said she only received a notice from the city on July 1 stating her apartment was being foreclosed on. An inspection made by officials from the city revealed the apartment did not have electricity, which left the smoke alarms inoperable, and animal feces were present, Grimm acknowledged. But Grimm said that portable smoke alarms were later installed and whatever animal waste was present had been cleaned up.
Ann Marie Miller of the real estate office said she had no comment Tuesday, while the tenants were being evicted and the front door to the apartment boarded up. Joe Frank, of Jersey City Animal Control, stated only that the dogs and cats Grimm had been keeping in the apartment would be cared for in a shelter.
Grimm said between July 1 and the eviction July 9, she had found homes for seven of the 10 dogs she had on the premises.
"One of the dogs I had to have put down," Grimm said.
Cruz said the house would likely be auctioned off once it was suitable for occupation. He stressed cases of back taxes like Grimm’s were neglected for too long and that the city needed to catch up on landlords who were not paying property taxes whether they were absentee or living in the apartments.