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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A property management company based in St. Petersburg has been ordered to pay $60,000 in a settlement over allegations of filing an illegal eviction against an active-duty sailor.
The Justice Department for the Middle District of Florida revealed that Rental Marketing Solutions, LLC initiated an eviction process for a property where the sailor had not resided for several years.
According to the DOJ, the company submitted a fraudulent affidavit claiming the sailor was not on active duty, and subsequently secured an eviction judgment against him. At the time, the sailor was serving on the USS Nimitz located at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington.
The eviction record on his background reports caused significant problems, as the DOJ reported that more than a dozen landlords declined to rent to the sailor and his wife.
This resulted in him living separately from his wife and rotating among temporary accommodations for four months, including sleeping on the berthed Naval ship with no heat.
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act requires a plaintiff in a case to file an affidavit stating whether an absent defendant is in military service, allowing the court to appoint an attorney to represent the servicemember.
RMS filing an affidavit stating that the sailor was not in the military service resulted in him not receiving those protections, the DOJ said.
Under the settlement, RMS will pay $60,000 in compensation to the sailor and provide ten years of credit monitoring for him. RMS will also be required to pay a $6,000 civil penalty and maintain SCRA policies and procedures to avoid committing future violations.