This letter has been sent to Jim Hood, Phil Bryant and Tyrone Lewis. Hopefully, something will be resolved: Read on...... I am still trying to get a grasp on what happened yesterday at my home in Hinds County. I have been renting it for approximately 5 months. One and 1/2 months ago, I started eviction proceedings through my attorney due to multiple breeches of the contract. Self-eviction in Mississippi is totally legal although neither officer who I spoke with yesterday knew this. The Mississippi eviction process, however, does allow self-eviction under limited circumstances. • The written lease agreement must specifically provide that the landlord may lockout the tenant for a lease violation or nonpayment of rent without a court order. Our initial contract states this. Our tenant moved out on the 7th. She moved to Arkansas and informed me via message that she was out of the house. On the 9th, we changed locks on the home. We secured our 3 other storage buildings because the tenant had refused to give us back our keys. We secured with locks, the gates surrounding one of the sheds and took extra measures to secure the other two storage buildings to keep the ex-tenant out. While changing the locks, we contacted the Hinds County Sheriffs Dept and asked to have a deputy come out and talk with us. A deputy with a good deal of personal skills and common sense came and talked with us. He told us that based upon what we had told him, the ex-tenant was not allowed on the property and he would patrol and keep an eye out for us. Yesterday morning, I received notification from a good friend that the ex-tenant was at our home in Utica, one of the sheds was open with the lights all on. Her truck and trailer were in the driveway partially packed. I called the Hinds County Sheriffs Department and they sent an officer. I live in Vicksburg and started my drive to Utica. When I arrived, I was told that the ex-tenant said she still had 10 days to get out which was not true. She had initially been given one full month. In addition to that, I had extended that time until the 9th. She had successfully broken into two sheds and had failed to break into another shed but successfully destroyed the lock/handle for that shed. She had successfully destroyed the gate to the fence which housed one of the sheds. I told the officer I wanted to press charges for breaking and entering. He said that since she had a key to the sheds, it was not breaking and entering. They said the only thing that mattered was if she broke in the house. They asked her if she was in the house, she said NO. Stupid me didnt check - I felt, since we had changed the locks, she had not accessed the house. I demanded a supervisor arrive on scene. Again, I was told the same thing. I couldnt do anything since I hadnt gone through the courts. I think the officers need a course on Mississippi Law. The ex-tenant kept loading her stuff and finally left. The officers remained behind. The supervisor told her that if she comes back on the property, she would be arrested for trespassing. But, that is only if they catch her!!! What are the chances of that? I started cleaning up her mess - to the tune so far of almost $25,000. I went in the house and noticed the deadbolt was not locked. We had locked the deadbolt when we left the house previously. I got into the freezer to get some ice and noticed the automatic ice dispenser bin had only a few ice cubes, strange since it should have been totally full. It was full the last time we left. In addition, my husband turned off the ice maker so it would not burn up when the water got shut off. The ice maker was currently on and making ice. What is also significant about this is that I found an ice chest which was full of ice that had obviously been removed from that freezer. I noticed the cupboards, which had previously been full of food, were empty. I also noticed several other items missing from the house. I then started looking around to see where she entered. Voila, the front window was cracked open! She had broken in through the front window. We had strategically placed a deer cam facing the front of the home so we would have pictures of anyone accessing the house. The SD card had been removed from the camera and we could not find it. We called Hinds County dispatch again and explained that there had been entry into the house. The same officer who was dispatched in the morning finally showed up. He refused to go to the house so I could show him that she had broken in. He refused to even look at the camera. His statement when we told him that SD card was missing was We dont have any idea who took the SD card. OK, DUH!!! I asked if he could have someone come and fingerprint the camera so we could prove who did it. He refused. I again asked to show him the house, where she had broken in. He again refused. He refused to look at the ice chest as proof that she was in the house. Being very frustrated, I made the comment that it pays to be a criminal because the law is on their side. My husband chimed in and said something to the effect of another cop saying Cops protect the criminals. He said that the deputy was not doing his job and was being worthless. The deputy came at my husband grabbing his handcuffs ready to take him to jail!!! My husband was amazed and made a comment about Oh, we are not allowed to be upset about our property being destroyed? The cop then backed off. My husband asked him to leave. The deputy also had made the comment that he had spent 3 hours at our residence that morning and stated that he had wasted his time. He was obviously not happy about returning. While talking with him several times in the morning, he received phone calls and took the personal phone calls without even excusing himself. I was actually talking with him once, while looking down at my paperwork. I looked up and he was on his personal phone. He had not heard a word I said. From overhearing his conversation, he had something going on at his home and was trying to arrange for someone to be let in the backyard and trying to get his wife to go and meet them since her was not able to be there because he was wasting time at my house . Almost every picture shot of him from our other deer cam shows him on his personal phone. This officer, from the beginning, was very disrespectful to both of us. It almost appeared that he had a reason to protect the ex-tenant. Please look at the one picture of the two of them walking prior to anyone else arriving. Shouldnt she have been in handcuffs until it was proven (not by her sweet-talk) that she was legally on the premises? I called dispatch yesterday after the very unpleasant afternoon visit from the deputy, asking to talk with the supervisor who had come out in the morning. As of this moment, I have not received a call-back. Very unprofessional!
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 13:22:55 +0000
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