Jones Lease Properties tenant fears foreclosure

There could be trouble for two Quad Cities rental companies and the man who runs them is at the center on an ongoing Local 4 News investigation.

Jones Lease Properties and JP Rentals are both owned by Erik Jones, the owner of I-80 Equipment in Colona. The trucking company declared bankruptcy in December, and the building burned down in February. 

Court records show the rental companies may also be facing financial trouble. At least nine properties in Illinois and Iowa are beginning to go into foreclosure. Local 4 News spoke to one tenant, with knowledge of the companies, who said they are worried their home is on the list.

“All of a sudden is someone going to come in and kick us out with no notice?” the tenant said. 

Other Jones Lease Properties and JP Rental tenants shared similar concerns with Local 4 News, but feared doing an interview would cost them their homes. 

“Nobody wants to speak out because they’re afraid of what the repercussions are,” the tenant said. “I feel like they’re going to leave the tenants in the dark until the very last moment before someone just comes and gives us a notice to move out because the banks have taken over.”

The tenant said there are plenty of signs pointing toward trouble. Trash isn’t being picked up and repairs aren’t being made, but homes are still listed as available on the JP Rentals website.

“When you go around town and you still see Jones Lease Properties for rent,” the tenant said. “These people are going to get sucked into this blindly not knowing their future in this home.”

Land records from Iowa and Illinois show the companies acquired more than 50 mortgages from eight banks last year, but the tenant said the companies own more than 200 hundred rental units. 

“You feel helpless. You don’t know if you should look for a place,” the tenant said. “You can’t just be kicked out and be homeless with children all of a sudden.”