Florida property manager gets probation and no jail time after admitting she took tenants' $89,000 rent payments

A former property manager who pleaded guilty to taking rent payments from tenants at two Riviera Beach apartment complexes was sentenced on October 2, 2026 to 10 years of probation and no prison time, CBS12 News reported.

Ashley Clayton, 39, of Miami, pleaded guilty to grand theft, fraud, and money laundering. Riviera Beach police said she had some tenants at Berkeley Landing and Heron Estates send their rent by Zelle to her personal bank account and told others to pay with money orders left blank. Police put the total at about $89,000, though prosecutors said earlier this year they could prove $20,000 to $25,000, according to CW34.

The prosecutor told the court that many of the victims were seniors and some received rent assistance, and asked for prison under sentencing guidelines that call for at least 25 months. Circuit Judge Sarah Willis said the need for restitution outweighed the need for prison. Clayton must also do 100 hours of community service and complete mental health and substance abuse evaluations, along with any treatment they recommend.

"It was never my intention to cause harm and I deeply regret the circumstances that have brought me here," Clayton told the judge before the sentence was handed down.

The complexes have restored the money tenants lost, and Clayton was ordered to repay the complexes. A hearing on October 29 will check whether the prosecution and defense have agreed on how much she owes, and if they can't agree, a restitution hearing will follow.

Tenants who paid were evicted

Before the case reached a courtroom, more than 20 Heron Estates residents were evicted even though they had paid their rent, CW34 reported in February, and one was sleeping in her car afterward. Fort Pierce police are also investigating similar allegations from Clayton's time at Blue Sky Landing Apartments, about 50 miles north, according to the same report.

A similar case is moving forward in Delray Beach, where police say former property manager Jessyka Ortega took more than $100,000 in rent payments. Investigators allege she targeted immigrant tenants who didn't speak English and used blank money orders to take their payments. She faces several charges, including grand theft, CBS12 reported.

Losing a home over rent that was already paid is costly anywhere, and Palm Beach County is an expensive place to start over. Typical market rent in Riviera Beach is $2,618 a month as of August 2026, up 2.4% from a year earlier, which comes to about 46% of the city's median household income of $68,060, according to RentDataNow data. In Delray Beach it's $2,841.

How to protect your rent payments

Erica Elman, a Boca Raton real estate agent, told CBS12 that renters should keep a record of every payment. "The biggest protection is always a paper trail. You have to be able to prove not only did the money leave your account, but where did it go? Who did you make the payment to?" she said. She also advised paying only the landlord or management company named on the lease, checking that online payments post to your account, and being wary if someone suddenly asks you to change how you pay.

We covered a Georgia case where tenants were evicted after their rent checks were intercepted, along with the steps that make a payment hard to steal, in how to protect your rent payment from interception.

Sources

• CBS12 News (October 2026), for the sentencing, quotes, the Delray Beach case, and payment tips

• CW34 (February 27, 2026), for the provable theft amount, the evictions, and the Fort Pierce investigation

• RentDataNow Riviera Beach rent data, anchored to the Zillow Observed Rent Index, August 2026, with income from the US Census Bureau