So Much for Southern Hospitality: Single Mother of 12 Homeless After Landlord Scam

July 6th, 2012 - By Alissa Henry
"House of Horrors"

Source: CBSAtlanta.com

A single mother with 12 kids is homeless after she says she was renting a “house of horrors” from fake landlords who have now disappeared.

CBS News reports:

The Southwest Atlanta home in the 1000 block of Sims Street has holes in the wall, broken windows and no hot water. Tacco Collins said she paid a company called the Real Estate Connection $600 a month to a stay in the home.

“I had promises that they were going to come and fix whatever needed to be fixed in the house,” Collins said.

The single mother of 12 said she waited seven months, but nothing was repaired. Collins said shortly thereafter, disaster struck.

“My biggest nightmare came of August 2011 when my light box caught on fire. Georgia Power disconnected my service because it was too dangerous,” Collins said.

Collins and her family have been using a generator for the last 10 months. She said she stopped paying rent when her supposed landlord refused to make repairs. They took Collins to court in an attempt to get her evicted and that is when she said she discovered the shocking truth.

“No one could provide the deed to the house. The people renting me the house don’t own it,” Collins said.

Now the “fake” landlords have disappeared, Collins has no place to live and she said the state is trying to take her children.

“The phony landlords should be paying the money back to my mom and they should also go to jail for it,” Octavious Collins said.

“I am trying to make some effort right now to work something out, but I am lost,” Collins said.

So, if the “Real Estate Connection” people don’t own the house then who does? Well, the mother tells CBS that the homeowner is a woman living in New York who didn’t know her home was being rented out and that woman has no plans on making any repairs to the house.

This sounds ludicrous, but it actually happens more than you think. If people see a house is abandoned, all they have to do is change the lock on the front door, and then they’ll have a key and can rent the house to whomever they want. The people living there are then called “squatters”. Sometimes the squatters know what they’re doing and sometimes, as in this woman’s case, they don’t. What’s odd is that this woman was actually taken to court by people who didn’t even own the house.

It seems there were all sorts of red flags here that either Tacco didn’t see or she willfully ignored, but I guess when you have twelve kids, you’ve got your hands full. In the video, you can see that the house is trashed, but it may be because she has so many people living in such a relatively small space.

All is not lost for this family though because CBS says Occupy Atlanta is working with them. The group said it hopes the public will help the family buy a home, which will be renovated by volunteer plumbers, electricians, and carpenters. Tacco hopes that can happen before DFAS takes her children.

What do you think about this story?

Follow Alissa Henry on Twitter @AlissaInPink

More on Madame Noire!

 

Tags:

, , ,
More from StyleBlazer
More from MommyNoire

Comment Disclaimer

Comments that contain profane or derogatory language, video links or exceed 200 words will require approval by a moderator before appearing in the comment section. XOXO-MN

Newer Comments →
  • Kim

    Its crazy that everyone in here has automatically assumed things based on how many children this woman has and you don’t know her life story. If the author of this piece was truly interested in bringing this poor woman’s trouble to light then the number of children should have been left out. What these people did to her is not ok & shouldn’t take a back seat to her family size.

  • ROSE-TINTED GLASSES

    To backside! 12 kids! Well obviously if she dumb enough to be popping out babies like a baby factory she was an easy mark for the scam artists! Lady 1+1
    ≠ 11!

    To be honest I feel bad for her cause I don’t know what she had to do to come up with the money to give those scam artists (hope it doesn’t involve potential baby making).

    • http://twitter.com/SeikoLucianoMMI Seiko

      What she has popping out of her cooch, and how she got the money to pay rent, bills and put food in that house is NOT your business. regardless what the situation this story is not about a woman with 12 kids. its about a woman who got JIPPED and is reaching out to let people know to be ware of these types of situations. Spend more time worrying about your cooch and less worrying about hers, because her baby maker has NOTHING to do with the situation at hand

      • Ms_Sunshine9898

        i disagree. clearly she has 12 kids as a single mother all of whom probably have different fathers. given that she and her kids had to live in these horrible conditions tells me she clearly didn’t have a proper education to A. protect herself from having kids she didn’t need and B. to get a decent job to provide for all these kids or at least meet a man with the sense to marry her and take care of her kids. what happened to her and her kids is sad and never should have happened, but part of this goes back to the fact that she kinda did place herself in a situation to have 12 kids with no fathers to provide and no education or background to prevent her from winding up in this situation. while what happened to her is not her fault, her situation did lead her to predicament. . .

  • MLS2698

    Stay in school. Learn to read, especially rent agreements.

  • 305MovesLikeDagger

    I have a hard time feeling sorry for her being a single mom of 12 kids.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tee-RealandTrill-Vyciious/100002275313562 Tee RealandTrill Vyciious

    I WILL NOT judge her. I will not talk about her name. I will not talk about WHAT SHE CAN DO WITH HER VAGINA. What I do ask is why would she move there with 12 children? Obviously she works because she made payments SO THAT LEARN A TRADE THING IS JUST STUPID. Smfh NOBODY here should judge because everyone has skeletons and oyu never know whom you may come across one day. If everybody has such a problem with ehr having 12 kids, MAYBE you should go to medical school and offer her services, until then GET OUT OF HER VAGINA!

    • GorgeousNaja

      If you read back over it again you would notices —> “The phony landlords should be paying the money back to my mom and they should also go to jail for it,” Octavious Collins said.” so evidently she does not have the proper funds and guidance to support herself and them kids.

      • Angel

        The fact that they lived there in the first place shows that she dosent have the money to take care of them. That house was awful and sure if she had the funds she would have moved into a much nicer, safer, cleaner home to raise her kids in.

    • Charla

      I believe some people receive welfare and pay their rent with that. SO just because your rent gets paid, does not mean you work.

      • http://twitter.com/SeikoLucianoMMI Seiko

        Welfare checks are only so big and after seeing her kids? Most of them are getting ready to leave the nest in no more then 3 years. The oldest ones probably have jobs to help out with bills and food in the house, while she has a steady Job to take care of the BULK of things. trust me I know people on Welfare, and people on welfare are not getting the amount you think.

        • alicia

          She dosent have a paying job.i saw a video of her on youtube talking about the situation and asking ppl to help and she said that taking care of her kids was her job.

  • Lucky502

    Awww naw! This chick has 12 kids?? Did she not give ANY thought about birth control? How in the hell can a woman allow her body to be used as a sp!rm receptacle? Also, how can she shoot out kids like a glock? Obviously she has some issues. This may go deeper than what we may think. Sexually, she’s getting more deposits than First National (Sp!rm) Bank. lol….well, almost.

  • http://www.facebook.com/sassysoulja4lyfe Shonta Posey

    I’m wondering if ALL the kids are hers. It’s a lady at my church raising 9 by herself and only 3 are hers.

  • Cha Cha

    Sad, but please.. PLEASE do not have any more children… If you can’t take care of 1-4, unless you win a BIG jackpot, you will not be able to take care of 5-12…

  • Yvette

    My question is why is DFAS just NOW getting involved? This woman clearly needed help a long time ago. I don’t pretend to know her circumstances but a single mother with 12 kids? I’m tired just thinking about that. Anyway, I don’t know that taking her kids is the answer because at least she has all of them with her (I assume) and is doing the best she knows how to do. DFAS should have been involved all along offering her birth control, parenting classes, dealing with self esteem issues, learning a trade, etc. And Occupy Atlanta needs to have several seats saying they “hope someone buys her a house”. I know she and her children need a place to live, but buying her a house is putting a band aid on an open wound because she will still need to deal with the upkeep of the house and all that comes with home ownership and that costs money that she clearly doesn’t have. DFAS needs to help her find a house for rent that is decent and find out what is going on with this woman who has significant challenges in her life. It is so many “Tacco’s” living like this. When is the madness going to stop? It is not my intention to judge. I am just saddened that women continually put themselves in these type of situations. Again, I don’t know her circumstances or pretend too because she could be a widow but I doubt it.

    • http://www.facebook.com/prestinad Prestina Debraux

      We all should be concerned about the welfare of the children. I give Tacco credit for keeping her family together in spite of the odds she’s enduring. And she does have money for rent, she just got scammed by some low lifes who need to get thrown in jail.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tee-RealandTrill-Vyciious/100002275313562 Tee RealandTrill Vyciious

      They never said she didn’t have money. I don’t see how her personal issues (birth control, parenting classes, dealing with self esteem issues, learning a trade, etc) come into question on a subject about being scammed out of money.

  • UmOk

    Ok I cant get past the name Tacco. *giggles* So im gonna put myself in timeout and come back when I have something better to say. #djm

    • moniqhar

      lol

  • Rhonda Chambers

    Where is the father or fathers of these kids ? This woman is in a mess only divine intervention can get her out of. Somebody need to step up.

    • http://www.facebook.com/prestinad Prestina Debraux

      Well since you feel that way, I hope you did indeed say a prayer for her. I’m serious. I just did. She and her kids do need Divine intervention.

  • ok_dayumm

    The renter’s scam needs to be a side-story to the “single mother of 12 kids” story. Please tell me that she’s recently divorced….’cause I can’t even have sympathy for these 4,5,6… baby daddy with no child support stories any more.

    • http://www.facebook.com/prestinad Prestina Debraux

      I know. Everybody is getting on her case. At least she’s keeping the family together as best she can. While the no account dads are not even in the picture lifting a finger. They need to find out where those men are and STERILIZE THEM.

    • Angel

      I agree. The only people I have sympathy for in this story are the kids because they couldnt help the circumstances that they were born into. She on the other hand had a choice.

  • http://www.facebook.com/lashonda.johnson.92 Shonda Johnson

    These people names are “Octavious” and “Tacco”? She has 12 kids and she’s a single parent?? Why is a woman from NY doing having a home in ATL and she doesn’t live there?? This story is crazy,jesus take the wheel.

    • Activist1

      You can own property anywhere you want and not need to actually live in or visit it. Property is an investment for quite a few. That’s not uncommon at all, just thought I’d put that out there.

    • robind

      It was probably left to her as part of an estate since she has no plans to fix it up. Which I have never understood, if you are going to just let it rot donate it or sell it cheap to someone that would be proud to own it and fix it up.

      • http://www.facebook.com/prestinad Prestina Debraux

        I agree. I’ve seen that a lot. People not appreciating property left to them. What a waste.

  • Charla

    Very sad. But they should not throw a house at her. As with many of the families that have appeared on the show Extreme Makeover, once the volunteers are gone, she will struggle to keep the taxes and payments up on the house (clearly since she can only afford 600 a month in rent). Teach her a trade or skill and tie her tubes lol.

  • victoria

    NO PARENT SHOULD ALLOW THEIR CHILDRN TO LIVE IN an unsafe home. This includes1) moving nto home before all livable necessaties are done by the lanlord and 2) keeping a clean home b/c that houe was filthy. 2nd, the single mothof 12 thing is upsetting, It’s sad.

    • Rhonda Chambers

      The fact is I don’t know of a regular home that will house 12 kids and be inexpensive. This is a mess. It’s just too much and they may have to split the kids up.

  • gigi

    Kitsy…I feel the same way. How can you be a single mother of 12. Where are their father(s), other family members, Instead of buying her a house they should sterilize her, give her a shot or something, close your damn legs….jeezzz

  • Guest

    I can’t get over the fact that this woman’s name is “Tacco”.

    • cleojones

      for real.. Tacco..

    • Tac’co

      Dude, I’m rolling over here! The only way to pronounce it is like taco. I can’t see any other way.

  • Kitsy

    I’m sorry, you lost me at single mother of 12 kids. I just…can’t!!

    • YepIsaidit

      Ummmm, and her name is Tacco? ROFL! Okay. I’m done. Seriously though. She’s probably slow. She HAS to be slow. Please let her be slow because I know nobody with an ounce of sense would have 12 kids and pay actual money to live in that sh*thole!

    • Trisha_B

      When i saw 12, i almost chocked. Maybe some of them are relatives she takes care of? Idk, but things must have been hard w/ child number 5, so why add 7 more? Hopefully there’s some twins & triplets thrown in there, 12 pregnancies? Sheeesh. I know, i’m suppose to focus on her being scammed & is now homeless but I can only think about how less of a struggle she would have been if she didn’t have half of those kids. I wonder if the father(s) are involved (when it says single parent, it usually means not married). maybe some of the kids should go live w/ dad until she can get on her feet. B/c a house that can hold 12 kids have to be huge & custom built, which is very expensive

  • vintagebrat

    single parent with 12 kids?! smh I thought condoms were free at the club. If you cant afford to house one pls dont have 11 more.

  • Sheenabtn

    This story in its entirety is wrong on so many levels. Where to begin?…. 12 kids, Occupy ATL wanting someone to BUY her a home, fake landlords…. I will let the other commenters have this one.

Newer Comments →