Westdale evicted wrong guy in Deep Ellum

A resident of a Deep Ellum apartment had all of his belongings thrown away by the property manager, Westdale Asset Management, as part of an eviction effort. One problem: It was the wrong unit.

Johnny Abney and his 9-year-old daughter, who had been living in the Hamilton, a high-end apartment building, returned home in late July to find their apartment door unlocked and all of their possessions cleared out and thrown into a dumpster, KDFW reported. 

Dallas-based Westdale explained that there was a misunderstanding, and that maintenance personnel accidentally cleared Abney’s unit instead of the neighboring unit, where a tenant was being evicted. 

“They came to my door and cleaned everything out from my clothes to my daughter’s clothes, toothbrush, bathing items, pretty much left me with nothing,” Abney told the outlet.

After realizing its mistake, the property management company tried to retrieve the items, but most of them were damaged or already gone. 

The situation took a turn when it was revealed that Abney was subletting the apartment without the landlord’s permission. It was originally leased by his ex-girlfriend, who had moved out of state. Even though Abney paid nearly $3,000 in rent each month, the management refused to discuss compensation or resolution.

Abney subsequently sued the property management company. His attorney, Jason Freidman, argued that the issue of who was on the lease was irrelevant since rent had been consistently paid in full, and there was no legitimate reason to enter the apartment or discard their possessions.

An attorney representing the Hamilton said Abney would have been denied a rental application due to his unauthorized occupancy and alleged counterfeit money found among his belongings. The management company hasn’t provided evidence of that claim.

As a result of this ordeal, Abney and his daughter were forced to move out and are currently staying with family members. The case has raised questions about tenants’ rights, property management responsibilities and legal obligations of subletters in rental agreements.

The Hamilton is part of the Epic complex. It was developed by Westdale Properties and Dallas-based Streetlights Residential in 2020 and refinanced recently with a $73 million loan from Forethought Life Insurance.

—Quinn Donoghue 

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