Florida family is left homeless and with NO possessions after rental company hired a clean-out firm
A family has been left devastated after they returned to their Florida rental home to find all their belongings had vanished.
Victoria Swearinger, 58, and her family began moving into their New Port Richey rental on June 8, the same day the lease took effect.
When the family returned on June 10, they found the locks had been changed and the home left barren. Some belongings were recovered from the side of the road.
'I'm shaking so bad,' Swearingen told New Port Richey police on bodycam footage.
Officers were responding to a call about a suspected burglary before the family realized their possessions had been taken by their rental company, Sylvan Homes.
Victoria Swearinger, 58, and her family began moving into their Florida rental home in June, but were shocked when their belongings disappeared days later
On June 10, the family returned and was devastated to find that the locks had been changed and the home left barren
Some of their belongings, seen here, were later recovered from the side of the road
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'Seems like somebody didn't get the memo that you were moving in,' one cop told Swearinger.
Bodycam footage shows officers walking through the home, which is eerily empty, their flashlight beams bouncing off the spotless walls.
Speaking to ABC Action News, Swearinger said: 'We paid the rent. It was our house to put our stuff in.'
Daughter-in-law Britanny Cromer, 33, said she 'immediately burst into tears.'
Her grandmother's ring and her grandfather's dog tags, along with belongings she inherited from her late uncle, had disappeared.
'Why didn't they stop and think? Why didn't they stop and call?' Cromer said. 'I'm out of things that I can't get back.'
Swearinger, Cromer and her husband James sued Sylvan Homes after the company refused to reimburse them for losses.
According to the complaint, 'a clean-out company hired by Sylvan Homes had made a mistake and cleaned out the wrong property.'
Bodycam footage shows the inside of the home completely bare
Swearinger, her son and daughter-in-law Brittany Cromer sued Sylvan Homes after the rental company refused to reimburse them
The 58-year-old, pictured with son James, told ABC Action News: 'It was our house to put stuff in'
Brittany Cromer, 33, pictured with her husband, said prized possessions including her grandmother's ring and grandfather's dog tags had vanished
Sylvan Homes said 'its vendor mistakenly removed personal property' and therefore could not be held liable. The company filed a motion asking for the case to be dismissed
The lawsuit accuses the rental company of violating Florida Statutes 83.67, which forbids a landlord from removing tenants' belongings unless they have been evicted or if the property has been surrendered or abandoned.
In court filings, Sylvan Homes argued that 'its vendor mistakenly removed personal property' and the company could not be held liable.
An attorney for Sylvan Homes filed a motion asking that the case be dismissed. A judge ordered mediation that is scheduled for February 13th.
The rental company, Swearinger said, 'had no right coming in and violating us.' The family seeks more than $10,000 in damages.
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