HOUSTON, TX — A Texas mom is facing eviction after the pandemic caused the restaurant she worked for to close. To make matters worse her landlord informed her of the eviction using an insensitive note.
According to KTXS, Sonja Lee is a single mother who lost her job since March. She was denied unemployment and eventually fell behind on rent for June, July, and August.
The manager of her apartment complex provided a vacate notice that attempted to make light of the situation.
The letter featured a smiley face waving with the following text: “Guess who’s moving?”
The note went on to give Lee only four hours to pay owed rent before she would be evicted: “Pay your outstanding balance or release your apartment and turn in your keys to the leasing office by 6:00 p.m. today. Eviction will be filed promptly Tuesday morning, 8/18/2020.”
“So ya'll think it’s funny to antagonize the person that's going through financial hardship with putting an emoji stating guess who's moving today? There was nothing funny about that,” said Lee. “I'm not going to lie that took me by surprise, I never met a company that actually thought it was funny to put notes like that on the tenant’s doors.”
According to eviction attorney Jon-Ross Trevino, tenants must be given anywhere from 24 to 72 hours’ notice before an eviction can be filed.
"This notice doesn't have any power," said Trevino.
Karya Property Management, which owns the apartment complex where Lee resided, stated that the manager who created the flyer was trying to grab the tenant's attention.
They clarified that the poster was not corporate-approved and admitted that it was insensitive. They also stated the manager was disciplined.
Lee and her children are not currently being evicted and according to the management company no eviction process has been filed against her.
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