果酱视频

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Kayla Pendleton was excited about her first 鈥渞eal鈥� apartment.

Pendleton, 25, grew up in the West End and graduated from Soldan High School. She was one of the early winners of the 鈥淔ontbonne Promise鈥� scholarship, which paid full university tuition for qualifying low-income students in 果酱视频.

The promise didn鈥檛 quite come to fruition. Pendleton lived in a student apartment on campus and tried to make ends meet. Then Fontbonne announced its plans to close. She left, got a job working as a paraprofessional for the Special School District and went out on her own.

Now that she鈥檚 working with special needs children, she鈥檚 thinking about going back to school to get a teaching degree. She enjoys the work. But first, there鈥檚 the matter of that apartment.

Last year, Pendleton signed a lease with the 275 on the Park apartment complex on Union Boulevard, just north of Forest Park. From the beginning, she had issues.

Her apartment wasn鈥檛 painted when she moved in. It was missing a couple of appliances. There was a ceiling leak, which she reported. A month later, the roof collapsed. She was moved to another unit. Still, she planned on living in the apartment for a long time. The complex is near public transportation, which is important to her. She doesn鈥檛 have a car.

鈥淚t was supposed to be a home for me to settle in,鈥� Pendleton said. 鈥淚 wanted to put down roots.鈥�

But she started noticing discrepancies when she paid rent on the app that the complex wanted residents to use. The fees on the app didn鈥檛 match her records. So she started to pay with a money order and deliver it directly to the management office.

In March, when her lease was up, Pendleton was converted to a month-to-month lease. But additional costs popped up that she didn鈥檛 expect, and she says she never received notice about them. One was a $250 hike in her monthly rent. Another was a one-time $400 legal charge. She had occasionally been behind on some costs, like utilities, but this was too much. So she looked for help.

Pendleton called the , a Catholic charity, and ended up on the phone with Mike Godar, a volunteer with the nonprofit鈥檚 St. Roch Catholic Church conference. Members of the group looked at Pendleton鈥檚 situation and records. But before they could step in, the apartment complex, owned by Oro Capital Advisors, a real estate company based in Nevada, sued her in 果酱视频 County Circuit Court. The suit sought to evict her and collect $1,200.

The numbers didn鈥檛 make sense to Godar, particularly because Pendleton told him she had paid $580 in a money order in April 鈥� the amount she was told she was behind. But it never showed up in the apartment鈥檚 records. She had taken it to the office and the door was locked. A maintenance man from the complex said he would deliver it for her.

鈥淭hat money order never appeared on the payment ledger,鈥� Godar says.

He went with Pendleton to discuss the matter with Jennifer Wade, the assistant property manager. Godar had worked with her before, when other residents came to the society for help with utility bills or past-due rent. Godar told Wade the society was willing to pay to settle Pendleton鈥檚 account, minus some of the questionable charges. She 鈥渋nvited us to leave鈥� the office, Godar said.

鈥淭his whole eviction process has been a nightmare,鈥� Godar said. 鈥淭hey won鈥檛 resolve the situation.鈥�

Pendleton knew she was going to have to move by the end of May. She started looking for new apartments but ran into a roadblock: The lawsuit showed up on her background checks. Every potential new landlord turned her down because of the ongoing 鈥渞ental collection.鈥�

Pendleton was running out of options.

鈥淚 was facing homelessness,鈥� she said.

That鈥檚 in part because of the May 16 tornado, which destroyed her grandmother鈥檚 house 鈥� about the only place she could have gone. The tornado also damaged the apartment complex, which is now rebranding itself as

鈥淒iscover Luxury Apartments鈥� in the Central West End, the company鈥檚 website reads.

The rebranding helps explain Pendleton鈥檚 situation, Godar believes.

鈥淚 think what鈥檚 happening is they鈥檝e evicting the people who have been there at a lower rent who can鈥檛 pay on a higher rent,鈥� he said.

Neither Wade or Oro Capital returned calls or emails about this column.

On Monday, Pendleton found out the eviction case had been dropped, in part because she already vacated the apartment.

鈥淵ou will contact 275 on the Park for payment assistance,鈥� wrote the legal assistant to the attorneys who sued her.

That鈥檚 what Pendleton did, asking how they could take next steps to resolve the dispute.

鈥淧lease contact the attorney regarding this matter,鈥� wrote Jennifer Bischof, the property manager. 鈥淥ur office will not be responding to you.鈥�

The amount Pendleton owes keeps rising. According to Godar鈥檚 most recent communication, it鈥檚 now up to $2,694.67, including legal fees that Godar doesn鈥檛 believe Pendleton should have to pay.

She鈥檚 in limbo. She found a room to rent in somebody鈥檚 house, but it鈥檚 far from ideal. She doesn鈥檛 know if her background checks will be cleared up with the dropping of the eviction case.

Her guardian angels with St. Vincent de Paul Society are willing to help pay off her debt, but they鈥檙e not going to pay for gratuitous charges.

Having resolved similar situations in the past, Godar is frustrated. 鈥淚t just seems like she鈥檚 getting railroaded here.鈥�