WILTON MANORS, Fla. – Kara McCormick was so happy to meet the Leave it to Layron team back in March 2018 that she asked us to leave her store and then called police.
At the time, she owned 420 East Consignment on Oakland Park Boulevard in Wilton Manors. The LITL team showed up with one of her consignors, who had a hard time getting McCormick to pay her for her items.
Police ultimately ordered an angry McCormick back into her store. When they re-emerged, the consignor had a check in-hand and police went on their way.
The LITL team stopped by again earlier this month after learning the consignment store had closed and McCormick had been evicted.
A representative with the property owner, Guenni Holdings, LLC, told the LITL team the last time the rent was paid was back in January. We found the eviction notice posted behind the storefront glass.
"Today was my first day actually reading (it)," said Riss Young, who works in the same commercial strip. "I was curious."
Young said she saw a number of customers showing up to the locked doors in the weeks following the store's closing wondering what happened.
She and others who work in the strip mall also recalled something else several days after the eviction order was executed.
"The U-haul, and the door open, and them getting things out," she recalled.
Whoever those people were had entered through the back door of the store and reportedly stole what they could.
The property owner reported the break-in to police. One of the company's representatives took us inside the space, which was still full of items, but several items that were previously there had been missing.
Along with the eviction notice, a letter from the property owner had also been posted. The letter read in part:
"Because the landlord does not know the identity of those who may own property consigned to the former tenant, nor a reasonable means of securing their identity, we are posting this notice.
If you own any property which remains in the store for which we have secured a judgment for possession, you may claim it by contacting GUENNI HOLDINGS, LLC at (786) 233-7873 and state that you own personal property which was left on consignment with Kara McCormick and/or 420 CONSIGNMENT STORE (the store). At that time you will be required to identify the items(s) of personal property. It would be best if you have a proper receipt or consignment contract…If you have neither a store receipt or can not adequately describe your property such that the landlord does not reasonably believe you are the proper owner, the property will not be released to you."
The letter also warned that consignors who failed to reclaim their property would risk having their items sold at a public sale after notice of the sale had been published.
The landlord's representative said the letter and the eviction notice were originally posted outside, but had to be posted inside the business because someone kept removing them.
Our search for McCormick led us to a home on Northeast 59th Street in Oakland Park.
A man answered the door when we went by and said we'd just missed her.
"They moved out, l believe, like, two or three days ago," the man said.
We could not help but notice the sea of tables, chairs and other furniture pieces in the front yard. At least one piece was spotted with a white sticker on it, much like the merchandise stickers on the consigned items at the store.
There was a "yard sale" sign tied to the stop sign at the corner and a U-Haul parked in the driveway of the home.
"That's my U-haul," the man said.
The man said he was related to the landlord and was helping to clean things out of the home. Court records show McCormick was also evicted from the home earlier this summer.
Minutes later, a couple of deputies arrived outside the home and questioned the LITL team about our presence. Apparently, the man who answered the door called deputies to complain about us. The deputies spoke with us, and after speaking with the man, they left.
"I've not done anything wrong to anyone," McCormick said when reached by phone. "I've not committed any crime. I'm not that type of person at all."
McCormick said she did have an estate sale before she moved, but all the merchandise belonged to her and not to any of her consignors.
McCormick said her store suffered as a result of some personal relationship issues. She claimed she stopped taking consignments in March, and hasn't been inside the store in months.
"I don't think that I failed at that store," McCormick said. "I think I looked at it one day and I said, 'I'm done.'"
Moments later, the phone call dropped.
