Wrong-Address Eviction Turns Family Vacation into Nightmare in Oak Park
In a bewildering turn of events, a Oak Park family returned from their vacation to find their apartment cleared out due to an erroneous eviction. Erica Montgomery and her family had been living happily in the Oak Park Manor apartments for four years.
During this period, they had never delayed rent payments or caused any disruptions. Still, to their shock, they began receiving eviction notices in April. “It had my address on it,” said Montgomery, expressing her confusion over the identity of the person on the notice, who had never lived at the location.
Concerned, Montgomery contacted the leasing office. After reassurance from the leasing office that the notice was a mistake, the family took their planned vacation. However, this mistake turned into a nightmare when, on their return, they found their possessions removed from their apartment by a court officer from the 45th District Court.
“They called me and said we apologize, but they did put your stuff out. They noticed midway and brought all the stuff back in,” Montgomery shared. The court revealed that the eviction notice had the wrong address because the attorney handling the complex’s complaints had filed it incorrectly.
“The court was never notified that the summons and complaint were filed with the incorrect address, and the suit worked its way through the court system. When the Writ of execution was executed for eviction (with the incorrect address on it), the court officer determined roughly halfway through the eviction that the order of eviction was incorrect and ceased the eviction,” the court explained.
The court, after finding the mistake, contacted the attorney who filed the paperwork inaccurately. But there has not been a response as of now. Furthermore, an attempt to reach the attorney for a comment was futile.
The unfortunate incident has left Montgomery and her family questioning who will compensate for their belongings that were either stolen or damaged during the mistaken eviction.
