TYLER, Texas — More than a dozen tenants at a Tyler apartment complex are facing eviction. But those renters say they didn’t do anything wrong.
Tenants at the Residences at Earl Campbell said a leasing agent offered half off their rent if they paid through an app. But after taking up the offer, renters were hit with a double rent payment and a notice that they never paid.
The eviction process according to the Texas state law has five steps.
Right now, tenants at the Residences at Earl Campbell apartments are at step one -- a written notice to vacate in at least three days.
According to this eviction notice, the tenants violated their lease by committing fraud or theft.
However, attorney Steve Mason said that may not be the case.
"Just based on the facts that I know, it doesn't appear to me that that that the residents were a part of the criminal conduct or the improper conduct, but they appear to be the victims," Mason said.
The residents report the leasing agent committed fraud by taking rent payments.
"The notice that I saw doesn't relate to the non-payment of rent. So this is a very unusual situation here that we don't see very often, where there's some kind of allegation of fraud against their own agent," Mason said.
According to renters, the violation they are accused of is not spelled out in their leasing agreement, and if that is the case Mason said it may not be a proper ground for eviction.
Once the eviction suit is filed, a court hearing will take place 10 days later. Until then, renters can go on this website and file a consumer complaint.
And Mason said, the big question here is, "Why does the company believe that the residents themselves committed some kind of fraud or improper conduct, which would breach the lease?"
According to legal professionals, the only way to fight this is for those renters to go to court, bring all their evidence and tell their truth.