Resident says property manager told her to submit blank checks

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - For the first time, WSMV4 Investigates is hearing from the woman who helped law enforcement file criminal charges against a Middle Tennessee property manager. The property manager is accused of stealing rent checks from residents.

Last month, WSMV4 Investigates told you about the accusations against Casey Oiler involving several area properties.

The resident said she thought her complex was the only one this happened at until she saw our story. She now lives with family and is scared to rent because of her experience.

“I turned 18 at the time,” Ania Turpin said. “I got my first apartment. I was so excited.”

When Turpin turned in her first money order to pay rent at Hazelwood Apartments in Morrison, Tennessee, last year, she said her apartment manager, Casey Oiler, told her to leave the “Pay To” line blank.

“She told me to just turn it in blank every month,” Turpin said. “She said she would fill it out for me so I did that. Every single month, I put it in an envelope.”

While Turpin said she never missed rent, she got an eviction letter within months of moving in saying that she owed more than $1,000.

“Whenever I got the eviction notice, I hired a lawyer,” Turpin said.

She was advised to get receipts for all the money orders. She showed those receipts to WSMV4. On them, you can see her apartment manager’s name, Casey Oiler, written in the “Pay To” line.

“I was shocked,” Turpin said. “How can someone do that?”

Turpin called police which led to theft charges against Oiler in Warren County. Oiler is also under investigation in Coffee and Franklin counties for allegedly doing the same thing to residents at properties she managed there.

“I was so young,” Turpin said. “I never had an apartment or rented so her taking advantage made me so angry.”

All three properties are run by Volunteer Property Management. The company said it fired Oiler before finding out about the theft claims but would not say why they fired her. Oiler is due in court in Warren County next month.

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