Posted on 08/18/2023 6:22:56 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear
Note: Several companies in Middle Tennessee have a similar company name. Volunteer Management Company is not connected to Volunteer Property Management, also based in Jackson, TN.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - People already struggling to make ends meet are being hit with a double whammy: Their former apartment manager is accused of stealing their rent payments.
Now, their former property manager, Casey Oiler, is under investigation. Oiler is accused of taking those payments, and it isn’t just in Manchester. WSMV 4 Investigates has confirmed that Oiler has also been charged in Warren County, and is under investigation for stealing rent payments in Decherd.
The Jackson, Tennessee-based company recently admitted in a letter to tenants that it isn’t their fault their rent payments are stolen. However, the company still wants residents to pay up again.
John Wilear said he places his money order for rent in a gold slot at the Holly Tree Apartments in Manchester every month.
“Once it is in there, my responsibility is over,” Wilear said.
So does Angel Baker. What they didn’t expect was for their payments to disappear.
“It is such a big mess,” Wilear said. “There are so many people involved.”
Now, their former property manager, Casey Oiler, is under investigation. Oiler is accused of taking those payments, and it isn’t just in Manchester. WSMV4 Investigates has confirmed that Oiler has also been charged in Warren County and is under investigation for stealing rent payments in Decherd.
All three properties are run by Volunteer Management Company.
“I don’t even know [how I feel] anymore,” Wilear said. “Mad.”
Making Wilear angrier was the letter that Volunteer Management sent to tenants last month. In it, the company told renters that they have until the end of the year to repay what the company admits was stolen.
A portion of the letter reads, “I understand this is difficult times, and this was not your fault, but this is the way Corporate and our lawyers want to handle this.” This is a low-income housing,” Wilear said. “I work at Walmart, you know? I don’t make a ton of money.”
WSMV 4 Investigates went to the company to ask why people are expected to pay back money allegedly stolen by one of their employees. In an email, they originally blamed residents.
“The money orders were given to her blank, so she just wrote her name on them,” management supervisor Brad Tursky wrote.
However, WSMV 4 Investigates has copies of money orders from Wilear and Baker. If you look closely, you can see that they were both originally made out to “Holly Tree Apartments.” Oiler’s name was written over that. When we told the company about the orders we obtained, Tursky reiterated that the money “was not deposited into our account to become our money.” Tursky said it was tenants’ money until deposited.
Ultimately, both Wilear and Baker said they believe the property is trying to make them responsible for someone else’s crimes.
“I paid it, so I shouldn’t have to pay it back if I already paid it,” Baker said.
“Take responsibility for your employees,” Wilear added.
Volunteer Management said it wasn’t until after they fired Oiler that they learned about the missing rent. They would not tell us why Oiler was fired. They also said they don’t know how much money was missing or how many people were impacted. In the meantime, Oiler is expected in court next week on the Warren County theft case.
All three properties are USDA rural developments. That means they are getting federal money to help these folks out. We reached out to USDA to see what they have to say about the way the company is handling this. We will update this story when we receive a response.
So how did these tenants figure out something was wrong?
According to the report filed with Manchester Police, “Wilear was made aware of it when the company that owns Holly trees apartments [sic] contacted Mr. Wilear and advised that he was behind on his rent. Mr. Wilear went to the postal service and got copies of the cancel money orders and the copies show that Casey Oiler put her name on the money orders and had them deposited into her account.”
Copyright 2023 WSMV. All rights reserved.
They paid the rent on time and according to their contract.
They DO NOT owe it again.
The guy who stole the money is responsible, but there is a share in the responsibility with the landlord who hired out this organization and should have investigated sooner when rents were not being paid.
Did the residents screen, interview, background check and hire the property manager?
No? Seems like they aren’t the ones with bad judgment
Apparent agency. End of story.
The money orders were given to her blank
why?
Found ‘em:
https://member.jacksontn.com/list/member/volunteer-management-development-co-inc-jackson-3463
"The money orders were given to her blank
why?"
The property management company was the agent of the owners, not of the tenants.
“The principle is responsible for the acts of the agent.”
The company lawyers must know this idea. They are trying to intimdate the tenants.
Somebody needs to take this on pro bono.
The company tried to say that but when they got the copies they were made out to “Holly Tree Apartments” and the thief just wrote her name over that. Apparently the bank didn't notice.
Lots of people not doing their job in this story.
They weren’t blank. If you read the article, the tenants had the name of the apartment complex on the money orders, and the property manager wrote over it.
“this is the way Corporate and our lawyers want to handle this.”
LOL
This is why I pay my rent online.
CC
We managed properties for small landlords for almost a decade. I thought I had seen and heard it all but this one takes the cake.
If a money order for rent was given to the post office clerk, does that person have to legally pay rent again if it was stolen from the landlord’s mailbox?
The tenants are correct: once they deposit their payment in the rent slot, the liability falls on the apartment owner to collect from the property management company.
-PJ
Nope, the residents need to hire a lawyer fast, the manament company is sandbaging them
This is a little more iffy because it was not given to the property agent or placed in a designated location.
You relied on the USPS. What were you thinking?
But if that is what they TOLD you to do then they assume the risk.
If stolen, their problem.
Which was why when we were doing it there were certain places that we would go collect in person and give them a receipt.
If we got robbed leaving the building that was not the tenant's problem. It was ours.
No, we never got robbed.
There was a legend that Jesse and Frank James once stayed the night at the house of an elderly woman under assumed names. They learned the bank was gonna foreclose on her property the next day. In the morning before they left they left a note for the women along with the payment for the property in full. In the note they told the woman to demand a receipt from the banker that the mortgage was paid in full. When he left her property the James Brothers robbed him and took their money back.
“this was not your fault, but this is the way Corporate and our lawyers want to handle this”
Oh, it is quite apparent it is “the way Corporate and our lawyers want to handle” it.
And now I’m sure the renters would like to invite “Corporate and (their) lawyers” to step back through the enormous doors of reality.
Or perhaps “Corporate and (their) lawyers” would prefer a note stapled to the front door of the now former renter relating a sentiment along the lines of “outta here AND I will tell everyone just how stupid you are.”
They COULD just try to recover the money from >>>their<<< thief and next month the usual stack of rent checks would be back.
Apparently “Corporate and (their) lawyers” are displaying extremely typical prog behaviour in not being able to see past their current first move.
Oh well...
.
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