Romeo Crenshaw says he was at work when Mecklenburg County sheriff’s deputies showed up at his Charlotte apartment in early December to evict him, even though he had been sending rent money to the person managing the lease. He says he never saw the notice the sheriff’s office claimed to have left and recalls being warned that his dog could be taken to the pound if he did not comply. The surprise lockout, he says, left him scrambling for stable housing and trying to figure out how to clear an eviction from his record.
According to WBTV, Crenshaw produced CashApp receipts and text messages showing he paid rent to a contact who was directing tenants on behalf of a veterans housing company. County eviction records, however, listed unpaid rent for the same period, and the deputies went ahead with the lockout anyway. Crenshaw told reporters he repeatedly asked for his money back and at first saw only a small fraction of what he believed he was owed.
Veterans Bridge Home is one of Charlotte’s better-known veteran nonprofits and describes housing assistance and case-management services on its website. Veterans Bridge Home says it helps veterans navigate barriers to housing, including arranging placements for those who lack rental history or traditional landlord references. Local veterans and caseworkers often lean on those referral pipelines to get vulnerable people into apartments quickly…