CLEARWATER, Fla. — Twenty families in Clearwater are in limbo after the new property management company gave them little notice to move out. Then, they were baffled when another letter a few days later said they each owe thousands of dollars.
Clearwater Police are now investigating after 10 Tampa Bay's first story uncovered the troubling situation for Westchester Apartments tenants.
Some, like Brenda Gebhardt, have called Westchester Apartments home for more than a decade. Gebhardt has been there nearly 18 years. She said she can't bear the thought of having to move since she's in the middle of cancer treatments and lives alone.
"It's going to be hard, I have no one to help me," said Gebhardt who fears she'll be left out on the streets along with some of her other neighbors.
Earlier this month the tenants found letters taped to their doors. They were "Notices to Vacate" from a new property management company giving them two weeks to get out.
"I haven't been the same since this happened," Gebhardt said.
Then, days later, they all received another notice saying they each owe thousands of dollars.
"I got a notice saying I owe $1,200 plus a late fee of $1,365 so that’s impossible," Vernneasha Jones, who lives in the apartment with her two sons, said.
The tenants have not been able to reach the new property management company by phone or e-mail. They said they've repeatedly reached out to the phone number and e-mail address given on the letters taped to their front doors.
10 Tampa Bay's requests have also gone unanswered.
"We never know when they're going to come and put another notice on the door, they won't talk to us to let us know what's going on," said Tonya Robertson, a tenant of three years who worries most about where her young son will sleep.
Clearwater Police are now investigating. Chief Daniel Slaughter said released the following statement.
"The Clearwater Police Department is conducting interviews and in the preliminary stages of trying to determine if there is a crime of fraud that has been committed," the statement reads. "We have confirmed the messages regarding delinquent rent payments and requests for payment were sent by the company that recently acquired the property. At this time, it is not clear if the previous property manager properly recorded rent payments and accurately represented the payment status of tenants to the new owner during the purchasing process of the property. Detectives are working diligently to get answers."
A few tenants said they met with the police officer who came out to investigate but they still fear the unknown.
"We are still anxious, so much anxiety, people are still feeling sick and it's a lot of emotion," Robertson said. "People have not been able to rest."
Since our story aired last week, city and county leaders said they're connecting with the people who live there to provide resources, services and access to legal advice.