Single mother’s new home accidentally cleared out
A single mother has been left distraught after her apartment complex’s management mistook her apartment for one destined for eviction, and cleared out all the possessions belonging to her and her three children.
Single mother Stephanie Gunia moved into the apartment in the US state of Nebraska last week, and knew something was not right as soon as she entered her new home.
“I knew something was wrong, right when I walked in the door and saw my mat was gone,” she told local news channel KETV 7 Omaha.
“We walked in and there was nothing in our apartment except for a mattress,” Gunia, 31, told the outlet. “My kids' stuff was gone, their clothes, everything.”
When the devastated mother asked why the unauthorised clear-out occurred, Gunia revealed, “They said they got the wrong apartment. They cleaned out the wrong apartment.”
All of the family’s belongings were thrown in dumpsters in the carpark of the apartment complex, covering everything in trash and grime.
“Our stuff was in five of the seven dumpsters,” said Gunia, who had been living in the apartment for just one week before arriving home with her kids, who she had just picked up from school, to find it cleaned out.
“I just went grocery shopping the day before, all that food is ruined, food was mixed in with the toys, and there was like beer and trash ‘gooze’ all over my kids' stuff, our clothes,” Gunia said.
“My kids were crying because they were scared, they don't know what's going on, they don't know why somebody threw their stuff away in a trash can.”
The mother called the management of the complex in a panic, with staffers at the organisation telling her to call police to report that she had been burglarised, not realising their mistake.
When officers arrived at the scene, they noticed no signs of burglary, as Stephanie’s neighbour informed them they had seen a group of men moving things out and placing them in the garbage.
Police eventually discovered that the complex hired a company to clear out an apartment belonging to another tenant - one who owed back rent and was supposed to be evicted from the property that day.
The management company has since apologised for the mistake, saying in a statement that “almost all” of the family's possessions had been rescued from the bin and that the group had provided Gunia a $250 gift card.
Meanwhile, the distraught mother told KETV that while the gesture is a start, it does not come close to making good on the oversight, which has left her kids scared and without a bed to sleep on, as she is not comfortable letting them sleep on the sullied mattresses police and staff pulled from the dumpsters.
Image credits: KETV 7 Omaha News footage