Note from the Editor: By being a blog aimed at a West Virginia University audience, my staff and I strive to bring stories that connect with our audience. After being informed about the acts of a landlord in Morgantown, we felt it was our duty to share these stories. With that being said, we have allowed our sources in this article to tell their own accounts. The HerCampus WVU staff has not written, nor edited any of the stories we received in the following article:
“Unfortunately, I came home one day and my cat was missing. Naturally, I looked all over my house to see it she found a new spot to cat nap. After being unable to find her, I then searched outside, frantic that I might have left the door open for a few seconds to long. Once it became too dark to see I resorted back inside and noticed that my landlord had let himself in and placed my parking pass on a coffee table. Even though I was instructed that they were going to place it in my mailbox. He had no right to let himself in my house without reason. I tried numerous times to contact him and his wife (Cheri and Tom Wiles) who own BCK Rentals, to see if they had taken my cat, as I was not supposed to have an animal under my lease. I tried numerous times that evening, I titled all emails urgent and left worried voicemails. The next day rolled around and I had still no word as to where my sweet little cat was. Mind you, they never left a note or anything notifying me that they took her. Numerous attempts where then made again to contact my landlord. Then I remembered one of their previous tenants who had mentioned that they are money hungry. So I assumed they were holding her ransom in order to take my security deposit. Which is fine, I was in the wrong I would’ve paid whatever fine they wanted. Using this knowledge that they were all about money I posted a $500 reward for the safe return of my beloved pet. Ten minutes after I send them that email I received a call from Tom Wiles, admitting to taking my cat and dropping her off at the pound in Westover. Naturally I was ecstatic to drive across town to be reunited with my precious little kitty. I had told my parents about the situation and they told me she was more than welcome to reside at their home in Pennsylvania. So I triumphantly trotted into the pound with her travel bag, some toys, food, and water for the trip. She was not there. I questioned the workers at the Mon County Canine Pound and they seemed clueless. So I went to my landlords office directly after and they were not there. I sat in their parking lot trying to get ahold of them again. Seemingly reluctantly Tom Wiles called back and asked what I wanted. I told him that my best friend whom he had taken from me was not where he said she was. And politely but firmly demanded the return or my personal property. He mumbled something into the phone along the lines of him calling the pound and hung up. Never did I hear back from him. I gave him a few hours to get back to me and then called the pound for myself to see if he had. David, confirmed that my landlord had called and been informed that she was euthanized upon arrival. I was heartbroken. Absolutely devastated that my world was taken from me without notice and killed. She was the sweetest little thing and certainly did not pose a threat to anyone or anything there in the pound. She was vaccinated, declawed, well groomed, and microchipped.
Which then brought up the question: Why would they euthanize a clearly well-loved and healthy animal. They claimed to not have enough room to keep her overnight. I then question them about the microchip that was embedded in her ear for circumstances such as these, they said that they were very busy this time of year. After a clear try of adverting the question, I asked again. Dana, said that sometimes the microchips “malfunction” and to contact the microchip company, as if it was their fault. Truthfully, I don’t think they ever even bothered to scan her. Additionally after further research there was absolutely no information on this reliable price technology malfunctioning. In summary, my landlord, Tom Wiles, stole my personal property without any notice or warning and had her killed. Larsony charges are filed against him currently and will be pursued to the extent of the law by my attorney. I urge everyone to never rent from BCK as they have no respect for the privacy or well being of their tenants. They are the most evil people I have encountered on the face of this earth. The worst part- I’m not the only one they did this to. I was recently informed by the police that another tenant of BCK had her cat stolen and the whereabouts were unknown.”
– Sarah Wech
“I came back to my apt from recruitment practice and my kittens collar was in the middle of my living room floor and she was no where to be found. I knew something was up because the parking pass that was supposed to be placed in my mailbox was on my table. My neighbors witnessed Tom Wiles go into my apt with a box and rubber gloves right before I came home and she was missing. I called my landlord and she told me that they removed the cat and that she was “taken care of”. When I told her that it would not be good for the cat to be in her office without her litter box (I assumed they wouldn’t be so cruel as to dispose of her) she responded and said “oh no your cat is not in my office, we got rid of her”. When I responded and asked why it was okay for her son to have a cat in his BCK owned apt (apparently animals can affect the insurance) she hung up on me and hasn’t answered my phone calls since. That is when I got the police involved. After lying to the police about never speaking with me, Tom and Cheri Wiley stopped answering the polices phone calls too.”
– Sara O’Brien
We have reached out to these landlords and were denied the opportunity to speak with them.
You can find more on this story at The Dominon Post .
If you have compliants against this company, please tell us your story by emailing jessicarangel@hercampus.com