MACON, Ga. — Macon's NAACP chapter says they're on the side of tenants at the Hidden Lakes Apartments.
Last week, 20- 40 folks had eviction notices posted on their doors.
Bibb County Magistrate Court says they've dismissed most of those evictions, but the NAACP says they want to get to the bottom of what fees apparently caused the evictions.
Macon NAACP President Gwen Westbrooks said she spoke to the Hidden Lakes Property manager and was told that evictions were posted due to unpaid water bills, not rent.
She says she wants to get to the bottom of it so no one else gets evicted.
However, one family reached out to us saying they got an eviction notice in March and were kicked out weeks before anyone got the notice.
Entering a lease for an apartment is like a promise.
"Everything was pretty much understood when I first moved in about the lease and how much we would pay," Shanika Smith says.
Smith says she agreed to pay $780 monthly for her partner and five kids to live at the Hidden Lakes Apartments in Macon when they moved in November.
"Up until when I started checking up on the portal, and I started seeing extra fees," Smith explains.
In January, $100 late penalty fees, water, pest control, and trash fees appeared on the bill.
She asked the property manager what was happening.
"She told me not to worry about it, that she would remove it," she says.
Believing the manager, Smith continued paying rent.
"She made it seem like it was nothing that I did wrong. She made it seem like it was okay, and she would simply take care of it."
However, in March, an eviction notice appeared on their door.
"I showed it to her, and she said there's no reason to go to court. 'Don't worry about it; I'll just take care of it.'"
Again, she believed the manager.
"Then she started seeing that these fees didn't go away. There were people looking out to close the account on the apartment. She made me believe that she would move me to a different apartment and that it would just be the same as if I was staying there, and I'd continue paying rent," Smith explains.
She says the property manager started tacking on fees. Smith was told that she had to pay another deposit, an application fee, that she'd have to find another person to put the apartment's name under, and that she'd have to pay $350 in rent.
"I started getting very scared because I knew I didn't have any place to go, some not trying to be thrown out on the streets. I started doing what she said," Smith said.
However, in July, Smith said the manager's broken promises would cause her family to have a broken home.
"Around 10 o'clock that morning, she'd called me because she said the sheriff was at my house throwing my things out."
Smith rushed from work to see her partner, kids, and belongings thrown out.
"A lot of my belongings got stolen, a lot of my belongings got damaged because it did rain. It was very embarrassing that everyone was watching us get thrown out and probably thinking that we were getting thrown out because we weren't paying our rent, but then very shortly, they understood because they got the same letters that we did. They just didn't get evicted like we did," Smith says.
Last week, between 20- 40 people got the same eviction notice.
It stated folks were missing rent and they'd be evicted if they didn't respond in court.
"This is why we're here today," NAACP President Gwen Westbrooks says.
She says folks from the apartment reached out to the Macon NAACP about the evictions. Westbrooks reached out to the property manager.
"She just basically told me that it was not related to the rent; it was related to the water bill."
Westbrooks said tenants have been getting high water bills, but the apartments have no meters to measure water use.
"We just want to bring awareness to the community to let them know that we're here," she says.
Smith says she wishes someone was there for them before they were kicked out.
They've lived in their car or with friends and family since being tossed out.
"I didn't get a chance to get the treatment that the other tenants did as far as their evictions getting thrown out. I feel like I shouldn't have gone through any of it from the start," Smith says.
Westbrooks says she's speaking with the Macon Water Authority to see if water issues are happening at the apartments.
She says she's also contacting the Bibb Magistrate Court judge to extend any existing court cases to determine where these fees come from.
Westbrooks says the Macon NAACP will hold a meeting for the Hidden Lakes Apartment tenants at the New Zion Missionary Baptist Church if they have more concerns about the apartments, like billing or maintenance issues.
It'll be this Thursday at 6 p.m. at 1161 Burton Avenue.
They ask folks to bring their paperwork and bills.
We've reached out to Hidden Lakes management. They've not responded.