Landlord has license revoked due to negligence, tenant shares their story
TRENTON, Tenn. — Tenants in one local county are facing legal issues after alleged negligence from a former landlord.
Gibson County renter Jessica Stemmer tells us she’s been forced to move out of the duplex where she currently resides on Christmasville Road in Trenton due to ongoing legal issues, lack of property upkeep and utility problems since she moved from California in 2019.
According to Stemmer, the landlord unexpectedly turned off their water and now Stemmer hasn’t been able to reach them.
Stemmer says she has gone three weeks without running water despite a good standing payment history. Now, she just wants to move forward and have a better quality of life.
“We’re hoping to move here in Trenton by the end of the week if the place is ready. We’ve been waiting a couple of weeks for the place to be ready because when we found it needed some work done like flooring and paint because it’s a mobile home, but we were lucky to find it as fast as we did,” said Stemmer.
She says, four months ago, the pipes in the ceiling of their rental burst, causing it to collapse and spread water all over the house.
She says up to two inches of standing water led to mold and mildew in the unit.
Stemmer shared proof that she has always been up to date on her payments the entire six years they’ve rented.
She was recently notified by mail that Zoe Asher, a limited liability company in Wyoming that’s contracted with Baldy Properties in Jackson, Tennessee, is no longer licensed to do business here in Tennessee.
“The secretary of state actually revoked their license due to failure to pay licensing fees, taxes and mortgage payments. It basically seems like they have succumbed tenants out of the money that they were paying for rent and pocketed the money. They weren’t paying mortgage dues because all of the properties that they own have been auctioned off and foreclosed on by the state,” said Stemmer.
In the meantime, Stemmer and her husband are confined to one space in their home on an air mattress until their new residence is ready.
“It really sucks because we are living out of our living room. We can’t use our bedroom. We can’t use our backroom. We can’t use anything. Our bedroom has become a storage room at this point we can’t even use our bed. We’ve gone through two air mattresses at this point because it such a tight space they pop easily,” said Stemmer.
Despite her consistent attempts to reach Baldy Properties and Zoe Asher, Stemmer believes the landlord cut the water off as a tactic to make her and her husband leave and break the lease so they can take them to court.
“We got lucky at the fact that they lost their license and lost the house, that’s the only reason we’re able to move and finagle our way out of the lease,” said Stemmer.
Stemmer wants residents to be aware of who they decide to rent from and how it can impact their living circumstances. Stemmer says she and her husband hope to garner some legal help to compensate for their emotional distress throughout this process.
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