Hills of Rivermist residents are fed up and fighting back.
Their homes are deemed unsafe for them to return, so families are demanding that Centex buy them back.
Because frankly, they're tired of calling a hotel room home.
With school books stacked on the floor, n iron on a makeshift kitchen cabinet and shoes wherever there's space, cramming a family into a hotel room for a long stay can be quite an ordeal.
But for Maria Cachola, her husband and their two children, this small hotel room is now home.
"We have to be more concerned about our kids' safety," Cachola said. "They can't just go outside anymore. We have strangers coming in and out of hotel rooms."
The Cacholas are one of the 27 families forced to live in a hotel room after a retaining wall in their neighborhood collapsed Jan. 24.
"At first, I wasn't sure what was going on. I really didn't realize how serious it was until I realized we had to stay here for a long time."
But worse than that has been the uncertainty, she said.
"The only stressful part is now knowing what Centex is doing, not knowing what to expect in the future."
Centex Homes, owned by Pulte, just announced it hired a private firm to determine what caused the problem. The results will take six weeks.
That means a small hotel suite will be the Cacholas' "home sweet home" for quite a while longer.
Families are taking action. They plan to meet this Saturday at Brandeis High School with letters in hand demanding that Centex buy back their homes.
The group will then caravan to the post office to mail those letters.
