NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Forced out of their homes and, now, they can't get their belongings.
Tenants of the Seaview Lofts in Newport News have been out of their apartments for almost a year. Recently, some of them discovered they can't get their belongings.
FULL COVERAGE: Click here to see the previous coverage of Seaview Lofts.
Former Tenant Logan Moore said she moved into her previous apartment at Seaview lofts back in 2021. A year and a half later, a notice forced her and many others to move out.
With the little time she had to relocate, Moore said there wasn’t a lot she could bring.
"I had to leave my couch, my pictures on the walls, floating shelves things like that a lot of shelves still some clothes. I pretty much only took my work clothes," explained Moore.
Since the day she moved out, Moore said tenants were told they would be back in soon.
"The maintenance told us not to pack up all the way to be more understanding," she said. "We were told to only get necessities like clothes and things like that because the maintenance said we are going to be back in."
Almost a year later, the apartment is still vacant.
Recently Moore, said she tried contacting maintenance to get her things since she'll be moving into a new apartment soon.
The response she got was a surprise.
"Maintenance stated to me that the owners' contractors trashed and tossed everything," said Moore.
When she asked why she wasn't notified, Moore told us that she wasn't given a clear answer. She's come to find out since she's not the only one impacted.
"I contacted the lawyers and they said they are getting multiple calls from other tenants," Moore said. "Apparently, the entire building has been trashed. Everyone has lost their belongings. We were able to go in and out and get some things but at the time when we moved out, we had no knowledge of the units being trashed out. So now people like me have lost a lot of things over $5,000."
Moore said she and many others have been put into a financial bind since receiving that move-out notice.
As she moves into a new place, she says it will take a while for it to feel like home again.
Seaview Lofts owner Ben Weinstein said he wasn’t aware of tenants’ belongings being trashed. He said his lawyers are actively reaching out to tenants in an orderly fashion.
