Mother and her five children forced to reside in car after eviction just weeks before Christmas despite timely rent payments

A MOM-of-five has been forced to move into her car weeks before Christmas after being evicted.

Mercedes Hubbard said she had never had any delays paying the rent for the 13 months she lived in her property.

But her rent was increased from $762 to more than $900 a month, while she also faced constant water leaks.

Hubbard lived at Wheel Estate, a mobile home park in Memphis, Tennessee, from September 22, 2023, until she was evicted on October 3, 2024.

During the eviction court proceedings, she alleged that the property manager intentionally inflated the charges on her utility bill by three months’ worth of rent to push forward with the eviction.

Hubbard also alleged that the cost of water leaks added hundreds of dollars to her rent each month.

According to documents, as of October 30, 2024, she owed $3,701.

Now she has been living with her five children in her car since October, and believes that her eviction could have been avoided.

“I haven’t been able to find any shelter,” she told ABC affiliate ABC24.

“I can’t go anywhere because I have all the fees that they left me with that was their problems from the leaks of my mobile home.”

The Shelby County Court Division of Community Services asked Wheel Estate to give Hubbard more time to get help with paying her rent.

In the email, they requested that Hubbard be given “additional time to receive the rental assistance.”

She further mentioned, “We are making every effort to speed up the processing, but it is likely to be a few additional weeks before the funds are accessible.”

Wheel Estate’s property manager told ABC24 that they were “unable to give Ms Hubbard any extra time. We want possession of the home.”

Hubbard said that she was told by the property manager that if she was accepted in the rental assistance program, she wouldn’t be evicted.

Wheel Estate did not respond to The U.S. Sun’s requests for comment.

“It’s a terrible feeling because I was lied to and I was continuing to pay my rent on time,” Hubbard said.

She added that she had lost both her jobs, her home, and was now on the verge of losing her car to a repo agency.

What it means for a home to be put in foreclosure

Foreclosures can happen when lenders take control of a property after borrowers have failed to make their repayments.

Homeowners or borrowers will receive a Notice of Default by their lender triggering the foreclosure process.

Residents living in HOA neighborhoods are at risk of having their properties foreclosed by the HOA if they fall behind on their dues. This situation means that even if mortgage payments are up to date, there is still a possibility of losing the home.

Before foreclosure, a HOA will put a lien on your property which then allows them to auction it to reclaim unpaid funds.

The sale price of the property can often be much less than it’s worth as it only needs to be enough to cover the debts to the HOA or lender and is sold via auction to the highest bidder.

This isn’t the first time Wheel Estate’s property manager has come under attack.

In October this year, more than 200 families living at the park signed a petition with a list of demands.

They alleged that the park hadn’t fixed street lights, gates, potholes, and a number of other issues since management changed last year.

In a letter at the time, Roots Management Group, which owns the property, said that they are considering making sure the community manager is available on-site at dedicated times, and said the company is working to install a new water main to prevent further issues.