Sonja Lee, a struggling single mother of two, received an insensitive eviction notice with a smiling emoji and waving hand emoji, leaving her in tears.
Lee, 33, who has been out of work due to the coronavirus pandemic, told PEOPLE that she was three months behind on rent after struggling to find a job and being denied five times for unemployment.
“I was overwhelmed because, to be honest, I felt like I was in a big hole, and I couldn’t get out because I was set back so much,” Lee told PEOPLE. “So it’s like, I’m a single mother with two boys. I do the best I can and am a very hardworking woman.”
The mother to Sean, 2, and Patrick, 12, came home on Monday to find the eviction notice on her door at The Steeples apartment complex in Houston.
“Guess who’s moving? You!!!” the message began, followed by a large smiling emoji. “Pay your outstanding balance, or release your apartment and turn in your keys to the leasing office by 6:00 p.m. today. Eviction will be filed promptly Tuesday morning, 8/18/2020.”
Lee did not find the eviction notice funny, and after local news stations picked her story up, the CEO of the property management company who operates the complex apologized.
“Buck stops with me, so yes, I do personally apologize,” Swapnil Agarwal, CEO of Karya Property Management, told KTRK. “I wish I had the time and the resources to reach out personally to every one of them who have dealt with any issues at our properties. But I am apologizing personally in case it was insensitive, and if she was really trying to work out a payment program with the property or that she was in communication with the manager, then I accept it’s truly our fault.”
The manager who wrote the eviction notice has been “reprimanded,” and Lee is also not under eviction, according to Agarwal.
Lee started a GoFundMe page since her story started gaining attention, which now totals over $35,000.
