(WSVN) - A South Florida woman has a successful side hustle renting a condo in Jamaica, but when she accidentally transferred a large amount of money to one of the companies that lists the property, she couldn’t get the cash back. So she called Help Me Howard with Brandon Beyer.
Luckesha Johnson (on the phone): “Thank you for calling. This is Luckesha Johnson, licensed insurance agent. How may I assist you today?”
Luckesha Johnson makes her living helping senior citizens understand their medical insurance.
Luckesha Johnson (on the phone): “Just one moment, I’m going to pull up your ZIP code areas.”
If you find yourself on the other end of the line with her, you’re off to a good start.
Luckesha Johnson: “You know, in the society we live, it’s so hard to trust people. And that’s why I pride myself on being transparent, being up-front, being real.”
Luckesha grew up in Jamaica and has fond memories of her childhood there.
Luckesha Johnson: “Growing up in Jamaica was like free, it was like you were in a jungle, you know? I was a free little girl, roam around.”
So it’s no surprise, when she decided to purchase an investment property, she chose her home country.
Luckesha Johnson: “If you come to Kingston, it’s right in the middle of all the activity, so it always stays busy.”
She designed it to feel like home, and that’s exactly how her customers describe it.
Luckesha Johnson: “Very homely. People say, ‘I feel like I’m at home when I’m there.'”
Her property is available on various vacation rental websites with whom Luckesha has accounts. Last March, while attempting to send money to her son, she accidentally transferred it to one of the rental companies.
Luckesha says it was a lot of money.
Luckesha Johnson: “$20,000. I said to him ‘Did you receive the money?’ He’s like, ‘No I didn’t see it.'”
It didn’t take her long to figure out what happened. At first, it looked like an easy fix.
Luckesha Johnson: “They said, ‘OK, send us the proof that you did send this money to us.’ So I did, and they’re like, ‘Oh, we got your proof, we got everything, we are going to send it to our specialized team.'”
Then Luckesha says they wanted to hold the money and put it towards paying commission on future bookings.
Luckesha Johnson: “They didn’t want to refund the money. They wanted to keep it on my books and continue to take commission out of it.”
Months went by, and Luckesha couldn’t get her money.
Luckesha Johnson: “You acknowledged that the money belongs to me, it’s there. Why can’t I get the money back?”
She felt like she had nowhere to turn.
Luckesha Johnson: “It’s not like you know where to go. You don’t have a door to knock on and say, ‘I’m here for my money.'”
And then she thought of us. Howard, she says the transfer was an accident. Can she get it back?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “Yes, she can. The rental company got the money by mistake, and the law does not allow them to keep it, nor does it force Luckesha to spend it on future services. Keeping the money is what the law calls unjust enrichment, and the courts will not allow the rental company to keep money that does not belong to them.”
We emailed the rental company. They told us they’d look into it, and just a few days later they wrote:
“We are glad this matter has been resolved. We worked directly with Ms. Johnson to process her refund, and we apologize for the time it took to reach this outcome.”
Luckesha Johnson: “I got up, and I looked, and I saw that the money was in my bank account.”
When we met Luckesha again, she was making a homemade Jamaican soup.
Brandon Beyer: “Amazing.”
Luckesha Johnson: “Yeah?”
Brandon Beyer: “Spicy, too. Wow”
The whole team got to try it. After all, there was reason to celebrate.
Luckesha Johnson: “I am glad that God reminded me of Help Me Howard, and I’m glad that you guys are still around.”
Howard says if money is mistakenly sent to you, that is not found money. When they figure out where the money went, you’re going to have to pay it back.
Hey, got a problem? Need a hand? Here’s how to find us below. It’s Help Me Howard. I’m Brandon Beyer, 7News.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD
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Reporter: Brandon Beyer at bbeyer@wsvn.com
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