KC tenants ‘panicked and traumatized’ by 24-hour notice to vacate. City disavows order
Residents in three northeast Kansas City apartment buildings were left feeling “panicked and traumatized” after, they say, the city told them to vacate their homes in 24 hours – a message the city disavowed later that same day.
On Tuesday, Kansas City’s Multidisciplinary Task Force gave residents of three apartment buildings in the city’s North Indian Mound neighborhood orders to vacate their homes within 24 hours, according to Mary Allison Joseph, an organizer with KC Tenants. The buildings are located at the intersection of North Lawn and Scarritt avenues.
KC Tenants has previously campaigned against the properties’ landlord, Yisroel Levovitz, of Wiser KC LLC, regarding poor conditions in the buildings.
“They showed up out of the blue, and I learned about it from frantic calls from tenants that said, ‘They’re saying we have to move in 24 hours, that the buildings are going to be condemned,’” Joseph said.
As of Tuesday night, tenants were no longer being asked to vacate their residences. But the ordeal, which included briefly posted signs on the property that read “do not enter/occupy,” left residents feeling “panicked and traumatized,” Joseph said.
Lané Johnson, a spokesperson for the city, said the task force is “still reviewing their findings.”
“Tenants have not been asked to vacate at this time,” Johnson said. “The city will work with its partners to help with relocation and support expenses, but ultimately it is the property owner’s responsibility to maintain its units in livable conditions or provide its tenants with livable units.”
Any city violations at the buildings will result in follow-ups from “various departments, which can include citations, a notice of violation, re-inspection fees, court proceedings, or other legal remedies available under applicable laws.”
Joseph said a task force member told her that they “were absolutely not telling tenants they have 24 hours to move, and, I tell you, I heard from five different tenants saying that’s what they were told.”
One tenant even began removing items from her unit’s walls, Joseph said.
Incident comes after tenants’ lawsuit
The ordeal comes less than a week after eight tenants with the North Lawn Tenant Union filed lawsuits against Levovitz, according to a July 2 news release from Joseph.
The suits, filed on July 2, “cover Levovitz’s failure to provide habitable conditions and language accessibility,” which the release said is required in tenants’ contracts signed in 2023.
In the July 3 news release, Artemio Tepetlanco, a leader with North Lawn’s tenant union, said Levovitz previously committed to make repairs in the building.
“I’ve had to be my own handyman all these years, and he owes all of us for this neglect,” Tepetlanco said. “I’ve been on dialysis for seven years, and all the work I have to put in takes a toll on my health.”
The tenants filing suit bargained leases on Aug. 5, 2023, Joseph said. They moved into newly renovated apartments, noting repairs still needed in the units. But repairs were never made.
The suits detail “broken windows, inoperable appliances, inadequate hearing and air conditioning, mice, rats and cockroaches, broken locks and other security issues, water leaks and sewage backups,” the release said.
The union bargained with Levovitz again on June 11, which Joseph said resulted in a commitment for “new leases for all current tenants, rent freezes and a timeline for pest control and repairs.”
“Levovitz backed out of the agreement on June 25, asserting that he would not make repairs and that all current tenants would need to move off the property,” Joseph said.
On Tuesday, Joseph said there “is no version of success at North Lawn that is not following North Lawn Tenant Union’s lead.”
“The main point from our perspective is that the city’s role in moments like this should be to follow the lead of tenants rather than back away from landlords who have exploited the incentives, and making a mockery of city law,” Joseph said.
The Star’s Eleanor Nash contributed reporting.
