LAND O' LAKES, Fla. — Jennifer Michele was at her mother's home on Thursday afternoon in Land O' Lakes when she saw a notification from Ring that someone had rung her doorbell. Ring security systems have a video component, and she said she was alarmed by what she saw.
"I checked it and it was two officers and some guy, and the guy was drilling my door," Michele said.
Using Ring's "live" video feature, Michele said she could see the two Pasco County deputies and a man who works for a leasing company were still at her door and began to speak to them through the system.
"I just started speaking to them through the Ring to find out what they were doing," she said. "They informed me that they were finalizing the eviction that was posted last week, which was new to me because I have a mortgage."
The deputies were also disabling her front door's lock, the video showed.
Michele expressed disbelief in the video and insisted that she doesn't owe anything on her house.
One deputy asked for her full name as the other checked the home's address. In seconds, it became clear to the people at the door that they were at the wrong home.
"We actually, we do apologize," one deputy said in the video. "We have the wrong house. It was the next door neighbor."
Michele said she understood the deputies made a mistake, but it was an unusual experience for her.
"I was very angry. My dogs are inside and they were barking up a storm," she said. "Yes, it was a mistake, and I get that people can make mistakes, but that’s a big mistake to make."
The lock was fixed that afternoon and the deputies even bought her lunch for her trouble. While Michele said she accepted their apology, she still thought about how much worse the situation could have been.
"If I didn't have my Ring, all of my stuff would have been put out on my driveway," she said. "If I was out of town, would they have gotten rid of my stuff? Would they have taken my dogs to animal control? I have no idea."
A spokesperson for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office says the incident certainly appears to be a mistake, but they're still investigating to determine how it happened.
A spokesperson for the leasing company serving the eviction, Invitation Homes, told 10 Tampa Bay they are deeply sorry about what took place and have apologized to Michele. They also said they take this situation seriously and are reviewing procedures to ensure this does not happen again.