CANYONVILLE — With its assorted history of problems, including broken lights, busted water pipes, peeling paint, intermittent hot water and most recently, an outbreak of bed bugs, the Forest Glen Senior Residence in Canyonville can be a tough place to live. But it beats being homeless.

Sally Beall and her husband, Rocky Benwell, should know. Beall, 71, and Benwell, 70, were living in a tent in Roseburg for more than three years before moving into Forest Glen in September.

The couple and their bevy of pets — 10 cats and two dogs — pay $1,900 a month for a suite apartment.

Despite paying rent on time, the couple worries they may soon be back on the streets after receiving an eviction notice last month.

Beall and Benwell are not alone. In just two days last month, Nov. 12 and 13, the owner of the facility, Clackamas-based Emmert Development Co., filed eviction notices in Douglas County Circuit Court on residents in nearly two dozen units.

The evictions were dismissed by a judge due to a technicality, but Beall, Benwell and the other residents who received notices, including many seniors on modest fixed incomes, said they fear another round is almost certainly on the way.

“We’re waiting to hear if we can stay or not. It’s still up in the air,” Beall said. “My husband is not well. It could kill him to make him move.”

Forest Glen, which features six stories and 110 units, was built in 1962. The facility has also gone by other names over the years including the most recent Harmony Active Living. As with previous situations where residents faced uncertainty, including this past spring when the facility was at risk of closure, it remains unclear exactly what is happening.

Emmert Development Co. is headed by 80-year-old Clackamas developer Terry W. Emmert. He did not return calls seeking comment.

However, an individual who said he was a spokesperson for Emmert, discussed the current situation but declined to give his name.

He blamed current problems on the previous management at the site, a Roseburg faith-based organization called Redemptive Ministries.

“The other people didn’t do their job,” he said. “There’s people living there that haven’t paid anything for months. We have a lot of people there that pay, and the people that pay don’t want the people that don’t pay, staying there.”

The man also said Emmert was in the process of making major improvements at the site, including putting in new tile and spraying for bed bugs.

“They got work crews there, fixing the place up. Maybe we should focus on the positive,” he said. “We want to help, but do it the right way.”

Portland attorney Scott Staab said he is representing people living in four units at Forest Glen who received eviction notices. He said the notices were dismissed in court because they were “defective” and “didn’t comply with the law.”

Staab also blamed the problems at Forest Glen on Redemptive Ministries, which managed the property this past spring. The agency defaulted on its lease and left behind “a mess” for Emmert Development Co., Staab said.

“There was no documentation on who was living there or what promises were made to these folks,” he said.

Staab also said Redemptive Ministries let people work at the facility instead of paying rent, and tried unsuccessfully to evict a slew of residents back in the spring.

“Redemptive Ministries was running what seemed to be a pretty seedy operation, and were preying on these folks,” he said. “They tried to illegally evict folks.”

As for the most recent round of attempted evictions, Staab said he is concerned for the residents.

“I don’t think a lot of these people have anywhere to go,” he said.

Past problems

Max Stafford the president of Redemptive Ministries. He said the agency did not default on its lease, denied any wrongdoing and said those pointing a finger at him are just looking for someone to blame.

“None of that has merit,” he said of the allegations against him. “I never moved anyone in there nor ever evicted anyone. Sounds like they need a scapegoat…Emmert is absolutely who created this mess and also is wanting a scapegoat.”

Stafford also said he has stage 4 cancer, is currently on hospice and is unable to speak. Because of that, he hasn’t been involved with Forest Glen for quite some time, he said.

“I’ve been too ill for months to have any involvement down there,” he said. “I was only involved down there for a short while back in May. I am not up to date with what’s happening there at all, so I’m not much help.”

The recent eviction notices are the second time this year residents at the facility faced such a dilemma.

In February, Emmert notified all the tenants — 50 at the time — the building was going to be shuttered effective immediately due to financial issues.

The situation was considered so dire State Representatives Christine Goodwin and Virgle Osborne issued a joint statement urging intervention by public health officials into the looming evictions. The two officials asked state agencies to “step in, assess the situation and take appropriate measures to protect residents and staff.”

“Upon arrival, we found a shocked staff and confused and fearful residents. The physical condition of the building is also very troubling and clearly in need of (significant) repair and maintenance,” the statement said.

However, the mass eviction notices never materialized, and shortly after Stafford and Redemptive Ministries took over management of the facility.

The problems persisted.

In March, after an unpaid water bill surpassed $40,000, Canyonville City Council voted to shut off the building’s water. However, Emmert came up with the back due debt and crisis was averted.

Canyonville Mayor Christine Morgan said now Emmert pays the water bill every month, albeit typically a few days late. The monthly bill generally ranges between $7,000 — $9,000, but can be higher because of water leaks in the building.

Morgan also said there is the misconception Forest Glen is a care facility, but it’s not. Nor can it be a hotel under current zoning, she said. It’s an apartment complex. And that’s what the city is focusing on, she said, that the water and sewer bills are paid and that the use of the building conforms to its zoning.

But Morgan also acknowledged, given the history of the facility, it’s worth keeping an eye on.

“There are lots of concerns down there and there should be,” Morgan said.

‘In limbo’

In the spring the building had deteriorated, with issues such as peeling paint, mold, rust, sewage problems and a smell of urine. While these problems appear to have been addressed, the conditions at the building remain substandard and now include the tumult of a potential closure.

Many of the rooms don’t have heat, requiring residents to rely on their own electric heaters. Food service at the facility ceased months ago, forcing residents to figure out other ways to eat. Many have refrigerators, hot plates and microwaves in their rooms.

On a visit last Friday there didn’t appear to be any staff at the site. Rooms that had been used as offices were empty, with furniture and other items on the ground. Two vending machines in the front lobby were empty and unplugged. Two American flags stood next to a shelving unit filled with puzzles.

A large yellow dumpster sat near the entrance with old mattresses, chairs and other furniture next to it. The carpet had been removed in places, leaving the cement floors bare.

Resident Rhonda Witt said work at the site stopped abruptly Friday, when the workers left.

“All of a sudden they quit. They said they weren’t getting paid,” she said. “Everything’s been stripped.”

Witt lived in a van for two years before securing a room at Forest Glen in April. She shares the room with her sister, who had also been homeless. They each pay $500 a month for the room. Witt had signed a lease with Redemptive Ministries for the room, but when Witt asked for a copy of it so she could get a loan for a car, the agency told her they couldn’t find it, she said.

Days at the facility can be long, Witt, 59, said. “I usually stay in my room. There’s hardly anything to do here.”

But it’s home, and Witt plans to keep it that way.

“As long as I pay my rent I’m staying,” she said. “I know what it’s like to be in the cold.”

Katy Fitzpatrick, 67, has been in the building for just under a year. She pays $525 a month for a small unit she shares with her two miniature dogs, Juju and Cheesee. The central heat doesn’t work so she has her own heater. She has a TV but can’t afford cable, so watches old DVD movies.

Fitzpatrick, like many residents in the facility, relies on a wheelchair to get around. She put a padlock on her door because the pre-existing lock didn’t work.

Feeding herself is a challenge, Fitzpatrick acknowledged.

“I didn’t have breakfast, I didn’t have lunch, and I’m about to not have dinner,” she said Friday. “Yes I’m hungry, but I can’t do anything about it.”

This summer, Redemptive Ministries posted an eviction notice on her door, but it was later rescinded, she said.

“I don’t really know what’s going on now,” she said. “I just hope they get someone in here who knows what they’re doing.”

Beall said she and Benwell plan to stay as long as possible, difficult as it may be. When they first moved in the rent included three meals a day, but those stopped around Halloween. Then there were three weeks they had to go without hot water recently, and had to boil water if needed.

There have been some nice moments, like the Thanksgiving dinner the staff put together, complete with turkey, ham, sweet potatoes and apple pie.

But she worries, mostly about her husband, who is in poor health.

“I’m worried because I don’t know what we’ll do if we have to leave, I really don’t,” Beall said. “Everyone here is in limbo.”