Tenants of 11 units at a Camden Avenue apartment complex last week were forced to bundle up their belongings and leave after San Jose code enforcement inspectors red-tagged their homes as structurally unsafe.

The hazardous conditions existed since at least July 2012, according to city officials.

That’s when San Jose firefighters doused a blaze there and discovered some of the 14 buildings in the 262-unit complex lacked proper fire exits, according to code enforcement spokeswoman Cheryl Wessling. Code enforcement inspectors subsequently found a number of other safety problems, most of them related to balcony and deck supports.

Wessling said the inspectors then told the complex’s owners, Joseph E. Louis and Najah S. Louis, to get a building permit to make the repairs. However, the owner let the permit expire after six months and never made the repairs.

Asked why so much time passed between the permit’s expiration and the city’s decision to take action last week, Wessling replied in an email: “Most owners voluntarily comply when notified by code enforcement about the need to correct violations. The fact that code enforcement has an open case from a 2012 complaint reflects our commitment to ensure corrective action occurs. We have a range of enforcement tools, and this case may be taken to the Appeals Hearing Board, where penalties could be assessed in the amount of $2,500 per violation per day to a maximum of $100,000.”

When code enforcement officers went to the complex two weeks ago, they found several items that needed to be addressed immediately, according to Wessling. They included a balcony with a hole in it that the owner had been asked to rope off, as well as deteriorating guardrails and hazardous stairs. One staircase needed stucco removed so the underside of an attached deck that is unstable and showing advanced deterioration could be examined. The bottom step of a set of stairs was also determined to be a tripping hazard.

The inspectors warned the property owners they would have to red-tag some units unless the repairs were made immediately, Wessling said.

When the inspectors returned the morning of Oct. 21 and discovered nothing had been done, they red-tagged 11 of the units because of their proximity to the dangerous conditions and told tenants they needed to move out, she added.

It remains unclear where all of the tenants went, but Wessling said some have temporarily moved into other units in the complex.

“I know that at least some of them were given vacant units at the complex to stay in, but they didn’t have beds or anything,” she said. “What I heard was the landlord went out and got air mattresses and stuck them into the units.”

City officials stayed on site until 9:30 p.m. to make sure every tenant was aware of the situation and to ensure that the owners and management complied with orders from code enforcement.

Wessling also said the owner is on the hook to provide relocation assistance in accordance with a city ordinance.

Once a building is red-tagged, there is a strict timeline for making repairs, and the owner can be fined for not complying, she said. However, code enforcement would prefer to see the owner simply make the repairs instead.

“We’re not in the business of collecting fines,” she said. “We want better properties, so I do know they try and help the owners see the logic of that.”

Calls to the resident property manager, Leticia Gonzales, were not answered.

Julia Baum can be reached at 408.200.1054.