MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The former office for Eagle Lane Realty and Eagle Lane Properties Management in Southeast Memphis now sits empty.
Court records show an eviction was filed against the company’s owner Marlene McGhee.
A website once full of pictures of homes has disappeared, and Eagle Lane customers say McGhee did the same with their money.
“What do you think happened to the money,” WREG asked former customer Sandra Meabon? She replied, “I don`t know what happened to the money. know I didn’t get it!”
Meabon first reached out to WREG in the summer of 2018. She used Eagle Lane to manage her Arlington property after moving to South Carolina.
Meabon said she discovered Eagle Lane had collected a year’s worth of rent from the tenants, almost $30,000, but failed to forward payments for July and August.
“Are you serious, so like where’s my money?” she asked.
At the time, Eagle Lane sent emails to customers saying their accounts were frozen by the IRS.
Meabon filed a complaint with state regulators. Eagle Lane owner Marlene Mcghee said they were working to “resolve” the “matter” and provide Meabon’s funds.
Fast forward to 2019 and Meabon, who recently walked through her Arlington home for the first time in more than a year, said she still hasn’t gotten her money from Eagle Lane or McGhee.
Meabon explained, “She basically stated that she wasn’t going to pay me anything until she heard the decision from the real estate commission.”
Earlier this month, the Tennessee Real Estate Commission suspended McGhee’s license over an insurance lapse. WREG confirmed board members might take separate disciplinary action against her license at their next meeting.
TREC is scheduled to hear one of the complaints filed against McGhee on February 13.
Meabon said, “I think that she should have her real estate license revoked.”
Speaking of revoked, since our August story aired, that’s exactly what the Better Business Bureau did with Eagle Lane’s accreditation.
President Randy Hutchinson says an additional, unanswered complaint also led them to lower Eagle Lane’s rating to a D+.
“A consumer should look at that and understand, this is a company that at one time was committed to Better Business Bureau standards, but then fell off the wagon,” said Hutchinson.
The accusations about missing money continue to mount against Eagle Lane.
An Alaska couple recently contacted WREG, saying they didn’t get June or July’s rent for their Memphis properties managed by McGhee.
They too filed a complaint with the state and so did a Nashville man with a similar story.
Meabon explained, “We trusted her to manage our properties, we paid her, she was paid and she didn`t do that.”
WREG tried reaching McGhee, but never heard back. An attorney responded via email saying she, herself, had no comment.
Court documents paint an even bigger picture of potential problems with McGhee paying bills.
Records show she’s facing eviction at her rental home, being sued by a local contractor and someone else who used Eagle Lane for property management.
In addition, in 2018 McGhee filed for bankruptcy. Records show it’s her sixth since 2008.
During Wednesday’s meeting, the Tennessee Real Estate Commission voted to send an order to McGhee, proposing to revoke her real estate license as well as the license for her company, Eagle Lane.
McGhee wasn’t present at the meeting, and attorneys for the state said she refused to turn over requested documents.
