Disabled, Scammed Vet Still Needs Place To Live

ATLANTA, GA — An Atlanta area veteran with disabilities, and her family, still need a place to call home after being scammed in a bogus rental deal. Brittnay Davis, her husband and six children are still living in a hotel even after a GoFundMe fund raiser surpassed its goal, totaling $6,767 as of Monday.

Davis and her husband signed a lease for a Lawrenceville home in July. When they went to move in on the 31st of that month, they discovered it was a scam after the real owners showed up. They had lost their $2,400 down payment. Their only option was to go to a hotel for the night.

After more than a month, the family of eight remains in a hotel, spending $130 a day.

"Initially we had a goal of $5,000 but Brittnay's situation was more complicated than anyone had expected," said John Paulson, CEO of the Phoenix Patriot Foundation. The foundation, with a goal to help veterans with disabilities and those in need, has been offering the family financial help and is administering the GoFundMe page.

With GoFundMe donations the family purchased a used, 2003 minivan, saving the family about a $100 day on Uber rides, taking children to and from school and getting her husband to work.

"Getting the vehicle is progress, but no one has donated to the GoFundMe in three or four days and there's more work to be done," said Paulson. "Brittnay still hasn't been able to get her food stamps started yet."

"I'm happy but depressed at the same time," Davis told Patch. "It's aggravating. I couldn't sleep last night. I fell asleep in the hotel lobby, at the computer, searching for a place to stay."

Davis said apartment complexes turn her down as soon as they hear she had an eviction over a year ago.

"People deserve a second chance," she said. "That's why I donated 10 percent of what I got from GoFundMe back to the Phoenix Patriot Foundation. I want to help vets that are in the same position as I am. But now I have less than $2,000 left."

Davis said she just wants to keep her family together and keep her children safe.

"Atlanta has a homeless problem, but they don't want to admit it," she said. "I've seen women ask if I can watch their children so they can go prostitute themselves. I ask them if that's what they really want to do and they say, 'What am I supposed to do to make money?' "

"It hurts," she said. "It hurts a lot. I'm just in survival mode at this point. I feel like DFCS (Division of Family and Children Services) is just waiting for me to slip up once so they can take my children away."

Click here to donate to the fundraiser.

However, the DFCS won't help them in September, Paulson said. On top of that, he added, they threatened to take her children if she can't get organized. She's angry and scrambling to make ends meet.

Davis told Patch her 9-year-old daughter is afraid to go to school because she thinks authorities are going to take her away from her family.

"Housing in Atlanta is pretty scarce," said Paulson. "It's a challenging situation. We're just trying to keep a family together. We're trying to do everything we can. If someone had a lead on a three-bedroom apartment or home that would be great."

Davis, a native New Yorker, joined the Navy after the attacks on 9/11. She knew somebody who died in the attack, the GoFundMe page says, and joined because of the attack's impact. Her husband, Russell, works at a nursing home and rehab facility. He's "basically torn apart," Davis told Patch, and feels like he should be doing more to provide for his family.

Support organizations are working to help Davis and her family. The Phoenix Patriot Foundation and the local American Legion Post 140 are doing what they can to help.

RELATED: Disabled Vet Scammed Out Of House, Needs Your Help

Patch editor Geoff Dempsey contributed to this reporting.
Patch is a promotional partner of GoFundMe.

Photo of the Davis children in front of their new mini van, courtesy Brittnay Davis.

Photo of Brittnay Davis, along with Phoenix Patriot Foundation CEO John Paulson and his wife, Mary, via GoFundMe