Police escorted some of the 50 tenants of a Kalihi residence that partially collapsed Sunday back into their rooms to collect their belongings yesterday, before blocking off access with signs and yellow tape.

The city posted "Do Not Enter/Unsafe to Occupy" signs on the 1732 Gulick Ave. home, where several makeshift structures were built as additions with little more than poles, plywood and tarpaulins. The illegal structures, one of which collapsed Sunday night, housed dozens of tenants, including families with kids, who paid $250 to $750 a month and shared two bathrooms and a stove.

Officials said no one will be allowed back into the house until further notice.

The city Planning and Permitting Department also taped a letter to the home yesterday for its owners that said they had 48 hours to obtain a building permit for "the existing dwelling" and 90 days to complete all work on the property.

The letter, signed by department director Henry Eng, also said the home — deemed "structurally unsafe and dangerous to human life" — can't be occupied in the meantime. And it said the city would pursue actions to bring the house into compliance, including demolishing the house or its illegal structures.

The city has also said it is taking steps to foreclose on the house because its owners have not paid more than $53,000 in fines for the illegal structures. "These structures are determined to be a public nuisance and shall be abated by compliance with building and housing code regulation, which include the demolition of the scaffold/tarp structures and the removal of debris," Eng said in the letter.

Eng did not return a call yesterday for comment.

Meanwhile, about 30 tenants of the home remain at Kalihi Valley District Park, where the American Red Cross of Hawai'i has set up a shelter for them. Workers are helping the tenants find accommodations, but it's unclear when the shelter will close.

The story of the home has shocked many Hawai'i residents, not only because of how people were living there, but because of another bizarre twist — the property manager was allegedly injecting some tenants with a substance he said would prolong their lives and heal their ailments. Some tenants said they felt forced to take the injections.

The police are investigating the allegations.

Property manager Daniel Cunningham, a mayoral candidate in the primary election, counters that he forced no one to take the injections of a substance he described as the same used for chemical face peels, but did offer it to tenants. He said he has also been taking the injections.

At the Gulick Avenue home yesterday, a massive trash mound in front of the residence was overflowing onto the street and gawkers were driving up and down the one-lane road to take a peek at the place.

The Honolulu Fire Department also raised concerns about the residence, and last year sent a letter to the city asking that the situation be addressed quickly because of unsafe conditions, a spokesman said.

Also yesterday, police asked for help in locating one of the tenants who lived in the home, identified as Reno Dawson. The 42-year-old has not been seen since the collapse. He is about 5 feet 8 and weighs 200 pounds.

The home was searched several times Tuesday to make sure Dawson wasn't still inside. All the other tenants of the home have been accounted for. Anyone with information on Dawson's whereabouts is asked to call police at 529-3115.