LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — The last few weeks have been challenging for Ruvene Castillo. The mother of five recently lost most of her belongings over the holidays.
For the last four years, Castillo has lived at the Oaks at New Hope. The Lawrenceville complex recently had a number of apartments flood when pipes burst in various units. One of the people affected was Castillo.
When 11Alive last spoke with Castillo, she was moving all of her furniture into a new unit by herself because her husband had to work. She was also waiting to hear if the complex would compensate her for the money she spent in a hotel while her apartment was uninhabitable.
She has since moved into another apartment in the building, but a lot of sentimental items were lost, like a locket containing the ashes of a pet who passed away last year.
"I want all of it back. I want all of that that we lost back," she told 11Alive.
Ruvene also said she was informed she had to reapply for the apartment she was moved in to and given a series of paperwork listing fees she would have to pay in addition to rent in February.
"It says here that I would have been refunded $2,000, but yet I still owe the property $275 after all this...But on this app it's if my balance is $1,449 and some change."
Castillo says some of the money for her hotel stay was returned to her, but the balance listed on her account concerns her, 11Alive reached out to Dominum Apartments, the company that owns the complex.
The following statement was sent to 11Alive:
"Because Oaks at New Hope is part of the Section 42 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program, the resident’s account ledger cannot simply transfer to the new unit in a different building, but a new account ledger needs to be created.
The resident received a refund from her old unit which included prorated rent, deposit and pet fee. She is now being charged the prorated rent, deposit and pet fee for the new unit. So, essentially, the resident can pay the new deposit, pet fee and prorated rent for the new unit from the refund she received for her old unit. The resident was not charged a new application fee."
She's received some help and a family member started a GoFundMe for her, but she says she's still trying to find a way to make things work.