A former property manager at a Moncrief apartment complex is behind bars on charges of grand theft
Now some tenants at the Majestic Plaza apartments claim they’re being asked to pay extra rent or face eviction.
Donishia Wallace is accused of pocketing rent payments totaling more than $34,000 between November and April.
One tenant told Action News Jax like many others, he made some of his rent payments to Wallace in cash. He still has money order stubs from the other payments he made.
That man, who didn’t want to be identified said there’s no record of the cash rent payments he made to Wallace.
But he was still surprised to learn apartment management asked him to pay April’s rent.
He said Wallace came to collect his April rent payment the day she was fired.
“She came to collect money from some of the tenants,” he said. “Nobody knew she was fired.”
That tenant is now facing eviction.
When Action News Jax went to speak with the new property manager, she told us that management did everything possible to help the tenants following Wallace’s arrest.
“Every situation was completely different, so it’s a case by case basis,” she said.
The owner of the property said he even worked out individual agreements with certain tenants, absolving them of payments before April.
The tenant we spoke with says he’s made enough payments already.
“Where are we going to go if we get kicked out of here?” he wondered.
Action News Jax Law and Safety Expert Dale Carson says if tenants are paying their rent with cash, they should always document the exchange by taking a video. That is, if the landlord doesn’t provide a receipt.
Cox Media Group
