Brenda Nakamura says she was in the middle of breastfeeding when a repairman entered her apartment with a key given to him by the landlord’s at Enclave Apartments.
“I started shaking, and I went downstairs and I was shaking, I was very mad and scared,” said Nakamura.
Both she and her husband Lorus Byers say they were given no notice that a repairmen was coming to their apartment. Weeks ago the family put in a request to have their ceiling fixed and they thought the problem was taken care of. The repairman said he was there to take a look at the ceiling.
“It’s terrifying, again we have a daughter and she’s a stay-at-home mom, they know she’s a stay-at-home mom, yet they gave a key to our apartment,” said Byers.
Attorney Matt Kincaid works on landlord and tenants disputes. He says Kansas law states landlords must give notice to tenants before anyone shows up to do repairs.
“This is not something they can do just on a whim, they have to tell you when they are coming - 24 to 48 hours is pretty standard. It could be in writing, it could be an email, could be a text message, just depends on your relationship with the landlord,” said Kincaid.
41 Action News spoke with the Enclave Apartment's leasing office and was referred to the Peterson Properties.
A lawyer representing Peterson Properties emailed 41 Action News this statement saying:
In the early afternoon of July 26, a contractor, who was following up to finish a work order requested by the tenant, knocked on the apartment door. After two attempts, the Contractor entered the apartment to perform the requested repairs (the inside chain was not latched). When the contractor opened the door to perform the requested maintenance, a woman was there and asked the contractor to leave. The Contractor shut the door and left as requested.
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Ali Hoxie can be reached at ali.hoxie@kshb.com
