Some residents of North Lawn Apartments forced out after city deems building dangerous
Residents of a North Lawn Apartments building were reportedly forced out Friday morning after the city reportedly deemed the building "dangerous."
Officers with the Kansas City Police Department were at the apartment complex Friday morning. City employees told KMBC 9 that the building was unsafe due to electrical and sewage problems. They say tenants received some sort of notice on Monday about a potential problem with the building.
When asked if residents were told they specifically had to leave, Joe Williamson, multidisciplinary public safety task force director, said, "I told them that when the building was posted, no one would be able to stay here."
KC Tenants organizer Mary Allison Joseph says tenants did not receive notice that the move was coming Friday.
"That assertion is false. The city was here on Monday. What they were doing was hounding residents to prove their lease status and threatening not to offer them relocation if the buildings were to be condemned," Joseph said. "No one was provided formal notice that the buildings would be deemed dangerous buildings. So what happened today has come to a shock to everyone, and 11 families are scrambling to figure out where they're going to sleep tonight, and the city has not provided a relocation plan."
Joseph said the city is acting as an "eviction force for a negligent slumlord."
"Tenants are paying the price, and they are paying the price because the city is violently evicting them today. People are being threatened with arrest if they do not leave the president," Joseph said.
Residents say what's happening isn't right.
"Not fair to anyone involved. Not just me. Like I said, every other tenant that lives over here," tenant Ryan Gilbertson said.
"I'm just thankful my babies are still with their older sister at the time because they don't deserve to be out here," tenant Amy Skiles said.
The North Lawn Tenant Union is now demanding that the city provide and pay for temporary relocation for displaced residents. The tenants union had an emergency meeting Friday afternoon to discuss next steps.
The Heartland Center has found homes for three of the displaced tenants.
North Lawn Apartments have struggled with issues involving air conditioning and sewage.
Earlier this month, the new owner of the complex, Shawn Johnson, told KMBC 9 that emergency repairs would begin. The city ordered emergency repairs in July, setting aside up to $500,000 for those repairs.
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