Local

Action 9: Stylist loses $1,500 deposit after strip mall sold

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A salon owner ran into problems with her last shopping center and found herself trying to get more than $1,000 back from a company that is not even located in Charlotte.

Joanne Leake turned to Action 9 reporter Jason Stoogenke to help get her money back.

Leake has been styling hair for 22 years.

"I like seeing the beauty at the end," she said.

She opened Uniquely U six years ago and rented space in east Charlotte's Kimmerly Glen shopping center.

She put down a $1,500 deposit.

The owners eventually sold the strip mall to Brown Investment Firm.

She then moved her business to a new shopping center and asked for her deposit back.

"They gave me the runaround," Leake said.

Leake said Brown told her it gave the money to a Florida company, Bayview Loan Servicing.

She called Bayview and was promised the check on a certain day, but five days after that day she was still waiting.

"I'm still waiting on a response," Leake said.

She was afraid she would never get her money back, especially since she was having to convince a company that she didn't rent from directly and isn't local.

Stoogenke called Bayview and asked for the general counsel's office.

"She's been getting the runaround it appears since August," Stoogenke told Bayview representatives.

Two days later, Leake got her check.

"I feel wonderful," she said.