Woman battling lupus says she was kicked out of rental home after making complaints

Ursula Jackson says, for months, she's been complaining about a laundry list of issues.

When she finally called code enforcement and violations were handed to the landlord, she says she ended up being kicked out with no place to go.

"He woke us up out of our sleep on Monday, and said he was putting us out."

Jackson says a man who she thinks works for her landlord, showed up to her Sharpe Street rental home and made her get out, even though text messages show she paid rent on June 2.

According to her, she's not behind on payments either.

"Basically, we just got some of our clothes and everything to put on our back," Jackson said.

She says she didn't have much time to grab her belongings and lost her furniture, dining room table, beds and all of her belongings.

"I started seeing mold last month. With my lupus, I can't be around mold at all."

According to Jackson, when she moved into the home in 2017, she told the landlord - who she refers to as Gus- that she was sick.

She also gave him a list of items that needed repairs, but he failed to fix them.

"I've been back and forth in the hospital."

With her health diminishing, and no sign of relief in sight, she reached out to code enforcement who found several violations.

After that, she says Gus told her he needed the property back to fix it, and she needed to move right away.

For now, Jackson is staying in a motel.

She says she soon won't have any money left since she's too sick to work.

Attorney Brenda DeRouen says Gus has an obligation to look out for the well-being of the tenant.

"In Tennessee, and in most states the landlord has a duty to make sure tenants are living in an environment that does not impact the health or safety of the individual living there," DeRouen said.

WREG called Gus to get his side of the story.

He never answered, and we couldn't leave a message because his voicemail was full.

The attorney says Jackson is on the right track by making a note of everything.

"Documentation is key. You want to document everything," DeRouen said.

Code enforcement is trying to track down Gus to take him to court.

They say he's been hiding from them too, and they haven't been able to serve him court documents.

According to them, he put another tenant out of a different property after she complained to them about leaks in the home that impacted her asthma.