Imagine coming home to find everything you own thrown into a dumpster. This nightmare was all too real for a family in Oklahoma.
Brandy Mason says she came home to find her family's beds, couches, toys, clothes, and furniture thrown in a dumpster behind the apartment complex. She says that even her son's backpack, which contained all his Halloween candy, was emptied and thrown out.
"Granted, it's just candy, but the fact I had that bag in a closet zipped up and they went into my home without my knowledge, without any eviction notice, without any legal action on me and took our whole life and threw it away," Mason told local news.
While Mason says this is a violation of her privacy and her rights, the landlord has a different opinion.
Western Oak Apartments, where the Mason family lived, is under new management and it was the new manager who ordered the removal of all the belongings.
"When you sign the lease, you follow the complex's laws," the manager said. She says she was convinced that the family had moved out, seeing as their power had been turned off for weeks and rent wasn't being paid.
"I'm not denying I'm behind on rent at all, but she had no right to go into my home and take everything away from my children," Mason said.
According to Mason, the only notice she got from management was a threat of eviction, but even so, her family's items were discarded before that notice came into effect.
The manager says she was within her rights, as there's an abandonment clause in the lease.
Mason says she was able to salvage most of her clothing, but the furniture was completely ruined.
Do you think the landlord was right to throw out her belongings since Mason was behind on rent?