Mom forced to live in car with her five kids after being evicted weeks before Christmas despite paying rent on time
A mother of five was evicted and had to relocate into her car just weeks before Christmas.
Mercedes Hubbard said that during the 13 months she had been living on her property, she had never experienced any rent payment delays.
However, her monthly rent went from $762 to over $900, and she also had to deal with ongoing water problems.
Hubbard was evicted on October 3, 2024, after living in Wheel Estate, a mobile home park near Memphis, Tennessee, since September 22, 2023.
She asserted in an eviction court that the property manager increased the rent by three months in addition to the water leak utility costs in order to guarantee the eviction would proceed.
Additionally, Hubbard claimed that her monthly rent increased by hundreds of dollars due to the expense of water leaks.
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Documents show that she owing $3,701 as of October 30, 2024.
Since October, she has been living in her car with her five kids, and she feels that her eviction could have been prevented.
She said, “I haven’t been able to find any shelter,” to ABC affiliate ABC24.
“I can’t go anywhere because I have all the fees that they left me with that was their problems from the leaks of my mobile home.”
Wheel Estate was asked by the Shelby County Court Division of Community Services to extend Hubbard’s rent payment assistance period.
A request was made in the email to grant Hubbard “additional time to receive the rental assistance.”
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The statement said, “We are working diligently to expedite the processing, but we anticipate that it may take a few more weeks before the funds are available.”
The property manager for Wheel Estate told ABC24 that they couldn’t offer Ms. Hubbard any more time. We desire ownership of the house.
According to Hubbard, the property manager assured her that she would not be evicted if she was approved for the rental assistance program.
The U.S. Sun reached out to Wheel Estate for comment, but they did not reply.
“It’s a terrible feeling because I was lied to and I was continuing to pay my rent on time,” Hubbard stated.
She went on to say that she had lost her house, both of her employment, and that she was now in danger of losing her car to a repo firm.
What it means for a home to be put in foreclosure
Lenders may seize a property through foreclosure if borrowers are unable to make their payments.
The foreclosure process will begin when a homeowner or borrower receives a Notice of Default from their lender.
In HOA communities, homeowners who fall behind on their dues may also have their homes foreclosed by the HOA; this means that even if you make your mortgage payments on time, you may still lose your house.
A HOA will place a lien on your property prior to foreclosure, enabling them to sell it at auction to recover any outstanding debts.
Since the property is sold at auction to the highest bidder and must only be sufficient to pay off the debts owed to the lender or HOA, the sale price is sometimes far less than its true value.
The property manager of Wheel Estate has already faced criticism.
Over 200 families that reside in the park signed a petition with a list of demands in October of this year.
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They claimed that since administration changed last year, the park has failed to maintain potholes, gates, street lights, and a host of other problems.
The property’s owner, Roots Management Group, stated in a letter at the time that they were trying to construct a new water main to stop future problems and that they were thinking about ensuring the community manager was on-site at specific times.
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