INDIANAPOLIS -- A northeast-side apartment complex with a long history of health code violations was boarded up Tuesday afternoon and residents were told they wouldn't be able to come back.

The Marion County Health Department and other agencies have been working to relocate the remaining residents at Timber Ridge Apartments near 38th and Rural Streets for the past three weeks, Call 6's Rafael Sanchez reported.

---

Images: Inside Timber Ridge

---

It comes after the owners of the complex -- New Jersey-based W.K. Holdings -- declined to remedy dozens of health code violations, including the discovery of asbestos in at least five buildings, health officials said.

Earlier this month, a court ordered the complex closed, forcing nearly 100 residents to find another place to live.

"This is a tragedy for us," said former resident Latrice Long Payton. "You all have someplace to go, someplace to lay your heads at night. We should have the same stuff here."

The health department rented moving trucks on Tuesday to help residents transport their belongings. Some tenants told Sanchez they didn't have enough time.

"Even if they would have gave us 30 days, it still would have been a mess because, you know, the process of finding houses and everything is hard," said former resident Henry Radford.

Dead animals, feces and roaches permeated many of the apartments, health officials said.

In July, health officials went into vacant apartments, where they found rooms full of trash and human waste. Many ceilings were caving in and windows were broken out.

An attorney for W.K. Holdings said his client wants to enter into an agreement with the health department to fix the buildings.

For now, the buildings will be boarded up and utilities turned off.