When a pipe burst in the basement of the vacant townhouse at 11 Ridgeland Road in Wallingford, the basement flooded, leaving feet of standing water, and the floors buckled.
But the trouble didn't stop there. The water slowly crept next door and started going down the line of connecting townhomes and the building department deemed all four townhomes uninhabitable.
"My husband went down to the basement this morning and found water," Susan Quartucci, of Wallingford, said.
Tenants said the fire department told them they don't pump out basements, but they did shut off the water and power.
"This is huge. I mean, I have two kids that don't have a home now," Susan Quartucci said.
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If that wasn't bad enough, the two families affected said they were given the runaround all day.
"According to the Red Cross, it's the landlord's responsibility to put us somewhere else. The landlord is saying that the bank was supposed to take over the property, so the bank has to take care of it, and they're saying they don't own the property, so there's really nothing they can do," Lauren Bradbury, of Wallingford, said.
"Everybody just keeps passing the buck. Nobody wants to take responsibility," John Quartucci, of Wallingford, said.
The residents also contacted the town, which said its hands are tied because the building is privately owned.
Now the tenants are left to fend for themselves. They've been moving out their belongings before they get damaged, looking for a place to stay for the night and searching for a more permanent place to live.
"Now I have to go look for new apartments tomorrow and nobody's going to pay for us to move," Bradbury said.
NBC Connecticut left messages for the building's landlord, but did not receive a call back.
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