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International Drive flea market tenants receive eviction notices

ORLANDO, Fla. — A flea market on International Drive is empty Monday and not making any money this holiday season.

The tenants were told to pack their belongings and get out, even though they've paid their rent.

The landlord told Eyewitness News he doesn't have a problem with the tenants -- just the flea market owner.

"He just told everybody, 'You have to pack and close right here, you have 48 hours,'" tenant Jorge Valencia said.

About 40 tenants received an eviction letter at the International Flea Market on Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, and the tenants had to spend it moving.

"It was crazy, everybody was running like a headless chicken," tenant Princess Minty said.

"Rent storage, rent U-Haul, to do all this -- waste money on the busiest day, Black Friday," tenant Neil McLean said.

Alejandro Pezzini with Orlando Crossings, the owners of the flea market, said they only evicted one tenant, Arvin Nandu.

Nandu, however, subleases dozens of booths to other tenants.

"He took it upon himself to let them know that they were being evicted but that was never our intention. We wanted to keep them here, keep them happy making money," Pezzini said.

Nandu was also moving out Monday.

He told Eyewitness News when he was evicted he had no choice but to evict everyone else, since they signed a lease with him, not the owners.

"We got the eviction and we followed what the judge told me to do," Nandu said.

"It wasn't anything spiteful to kick out everybody else because you were getting kicked out?" Eyewitness News' Renee Stoll said.

"No, no, no, no, no," Nandu said.

The owners of the building are scrambling to fill spots and tenants who spent money moving are having to reach deeper into their pockets to move back in.

"Now we have to spend another couple (thousand dollars) and get everything back on route," Valencia said.

The landlord hopes to contact all the tenants and get them back into the building.