MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Several seniors at a Milwaukee apartment complex said their cars were towed out of the garage where they pay to park.
Many of them contacted TMJ4's Chief Investigative Reporter, Jenna Rae, for answers after they were forced to pay hundreds to get their cars back.
Willie Zanders and Joan Heinritz pay monthly for parking at their Milwaukee apartment complex. At the end of April, a tow truck came in the middle of the night and removed their cars and several others from the garage they pay to use.
When Zanders went to leave his apartment and found his vehicles gone, he was stunned.
"I look, and I'm like where my cars at? Both of em was gone," Zanders added.
Heinritz had the same experience.
"I was ready to go to work, and I went downstairs, and I realized my car was missing and I couldn't figure out why my car was missing," Heinritz said.
Watch: Milwaukee seniors say landlord towed their cars without warning, charged them to get vehicles back
Both tenants live at Clarke Square Terrace Apartments, an all-senior living facility on Milwaukee's south side.
"I haven't had any issue until Berrada company took over," Heinritz said.
City of Milwaukee property records show Berrada Properties bought the complex in May of last year. Tenants said sometime between then and now, the parking system changed and they were never told.
When Zanders tried to get answers, he said he was told his car was towed because he didn't have a new required parking sticker, but he said no one ever informed him one was needed.
"This is what they told me, 'Well, you didn't have no sticker, and we sent things to the building to tell you to get a sticker.' They ain't never done that," Zanders explained.
We asked Zanders whether he had received any notice by email, poster, or flier.
"Nothing, nowhere," he said.
Heinritz said the same.
"I wish they let us know on the phone or email or letter and just put it by the door, stick it in sometimes with a piece of paper," Heinritz said. "I wasn't notified."
On top of saying they were never informed about the new sticker requirement, both tenants were forced to pay nearly $400 to retrieve their cars from the tow lot.
"If my daughter wouldn't have helped me, I would've been in trouble," Zanders said.
We called, emailed, and texted Berrada's communications director, but never heard back. We also tried calling the number posted for the property manager inside the building, which was out of order.
"It makes me feel terrible. It makes me feel like they kinda just used me for money because ain't no way, I really should've known," Zanders said.
Heinritz believes the tenants are owed more than an explanation.
"We should all get money back," Heinritz said.
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