Adriana Bukstel got a surprise when she went to crank up her barely used generator. Bukstel found a family of possums living inside of the boxed-up generator she kept in the garage.
"They chewed up wires, they chewed up the gas tank, so we thought, okay we have to take it to Bitter Blue because they always fix our equipment," Bukstel told us.
During the first week of July, her husband brought it to Bitter Blue Lawn and Garden in Pembroke Pines.
They paid a deposit and left the generator valued at around $1,000 to be repaired.
Two weeks later when they returned to pick it up, she says the doors to the business were closed.
"We thought maybe they are on a vacation and didn't post a sign or maybe had a family emergency because they have never let us down before," Bukstel said.
After weeks without a word from the store's owner she reached out to NBC 6 Responds.
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We found out Adriana was not alone.
Other customers filed police reports and reported missing items like power washers, edge trimmers, lawn mowers and other equipment locked inside the closed business.
The reports say police advised the customers to take the matter up in small claims court.
When we showed up at the store we found more people baffled by the closure.
"I was coming here to pick up my pressure cleaner and now they are gone," Robert Beckman told us.
"This week it's closed. I don't know what's going on," Santo Rosario said.
We also found a sign on the door stating "Store Closed" along with a telephone number.
We called the store's number and left a message.
We later spoke with a man who identified himself as the property manager of the building.
He told us he has not heard from the owners of Bitter Blue Lawn and Garden in weeks and that they had not paid their August rent.
He told us the landlord will not be able to open the doors of the store to give people their items back until they complete the eviction process.
But it's a process that is just getting started.
In Broward County, a tenant must be given a three-day notice to pay rent or leave.
After those three days are up, it is up to the landlord to file the eviction case in court. Until the court has served an Order of Eviction, the landlord cannot remove property that is inside.
The property manager told us they plan to return people's items as soon as possible.
Adriana and other customers call this is a big inconvenience.
"My hope is that we don't get a hurricane before I get my generator back," Bukstel said.
NBC 6 Responds was not able to make contact with the owners of Bitter Blue Lawn and Garden. We tried calling a listed phone number and going to a listed address.
