WAAY 31 is next up on the arrest of a previous condominium manager who allegedly stole rent payments from tenants.
Decatur Law enforcement arrested 48-year-outdated Tina Bryant on Monday for theft of property.
It’s unclear how extensive Bryant was a supervisor at Brookridge Apartments and Townhomes in Decatur, but the new residence management organization explained in a assertion to WAAY 31 that she was formerly employed at the group.
Prior: Decatur condominium manager arrested on theft cost involving stolen lease dollars
For extra than a 12 months, Decatur Police say, Bryant was allegedly depositing tenants’ hire payments into her particular financial institution account, totaling up to additional than $45,000.
Court docket documents clearly show there are added cash alleged to be lacking, totaling far more than $150,000.
“We would just set our rent in the minimal box or whatsoever, but no one at any time observed her, so we just assumed that our hire was getting to the ideal position, but evidently not,” previous resident Jessica Matheny said.
It was not till a new management firm took around and started notifying inhabitants about unpaid rent that tenants became informed of what was definitely happening to their rent payments.
WAAY 31 has realized the new company is Hawthorne Residential Partners out of Greensboro, North Carolina. They launched a statement to WAAY 31.
“Hawthorne Household Companions, the recent property management firm for Brookridge Residences, is conscious of the arrest of Tina Bryant on fees relevant to her preceding employment at the neighborhood,” the statement reads. “Tina Bryant was utilized with an additional management business that was earlier running Brookridge. Tina Bryant is not and at no time has ever been an staff of or affiliated with Hawthorne, so we are not concerned with the investigation and will not have any additional remark on the scenario.”
Court docket documents exhibit The Mitchell Company LLC out of Cell as the preceding proprietor of Brookridge Flats and Townhomes. They also reported the theft to police.
“We by no means understood who essentially owned the residences,” Matheny reported. “She held all of that stuff hush-hush. There was never ever any official paperwork. Even on the lease, it didn’t say who owned it.”
These allegations are disheartening for some tenants, who aren’t positive what this means for their residency at the complicated. Lawyer and WAAY 31 lawful qualified Michael Timberlake weighed in on what tenants can do in the event of a possible eviction notice.
“If they can deliver some kind of proof, even if it is really just a verbal statement that they paid their lease to an approved agent of the property proprietor or property management company, then that would be one thing they could use as a protection to the eviction action, perhaps,” Timberlake explained.
It is really unclear what steps Hawthorne Residential Partners strategies to choose, if any, following these allegations from Bryant.
Meanwhile, Bryant is out of jail on a $5,000 bond.
“We genuinely experience for these folks in this scenario, and I guess the lesson is to make positive that you get a receipt or some type of paper trail confirmation that you’ve got paid your rent each individual month,” Timberlake said.
WAAY 31 arrived at out to The Mitchell Business LLC two times on Tuesday for comment, but we have not read back again.
