His Solution To Tenants Not Paying Rent Is Absolutely Genius….

Uncategorized

Shutting out the freezing temperatures by closing the front door is a welcome relief for the young mother, Hannah McGee of Fenton. However, on Thursday, McGee’s landlord took her door after she fell behind in paying the rent.

The cruel and seemingly illegal move for the struggling mother now sparked outrage and an outpouring of support in her community.

In fact, the heartbreaking story shocked local attorneys and a person who is trying to buy the property. The buyer apparently told the landlord to put the door back on, which happened shortly after her interview aired this week.

McGee lost her restaurant job during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving her with unemployment as her only source of income. McGee struggled to pay her bills, feed herself and her daughter, and survive on unemployment. The rent, which involved something she had never seen a landlord do, was one of the bills she struggled with.

McGee lives next door to her mother, who has rented the same apartment for more than 13 years. She owes her landlord $1,000 because she fell behind on her rent for two months after losing her job. Angry about this, the landlord took matters into his own hands.

This landlord, on the other hand, took a different approach than most landlords do when they do not receive rent payments. When McGee returned to her apartment from a job search one day, she discovered that her landlord had taken away her front door. Her belongings were exposed when her front door was taken down, putting her child in danger from the elements and giving local thieves easy access to her house. This mother took a big hit because of the cold weather and the fact that her house was exposed.

McGee also said she used her closet door as a replacement for the time being and before the incident, there were no issues with her landlord for three years.

She states, “He’s always been a good landlord. I guess it just took one slipup. I’ve lived here without a problem, no incidents whatsoever. I’ve been on time every month, but since COVID happened, I lost my job. I was working in a restaurant.”

Attorney Rob Swearingen, with Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, said McGee’s story is unfortunately common. He said his law office usually takes a few calls from renters, but now they are getting calls at least once a day from tenants who are having their doors or locks taken off, being locked out, or having their utilities shut off.

“We try to call landlords and inform them that they’re violating the law by illegally evicting people. You can only be evicted by a court order and with the sheriff present executing an eviction, and right now, that can’t be done in St. Louis City and St. Louis County,” Swearingen said. “The landlord needs to realize that the landlord has committed a tort and is liable for anything that happens to this tenant. It’s more than negligence, it’s intentional infliction of emotional distress. It’s a violation of Missouri statutes and its unlawful eviction.”

Thankfully, McGee’s daughter is staying in her grandmother’s apartment while McGee tries to fix the situation. Nevertheless, the landlord’s act was disturbing and upsetting for the hard-working mother who has found herself struggling to make ends meet during a tough time in American history.

“I would never be able to do that to somebody, just make things even harder on them, especially with everything going on,” McGee said. She said it is very hard for her to seem happy for her daughter. “My Christmas tree is right next to my door frame where there’s no door. I don’t know how we’re going to open presents on Christmas like that. At least we have three walls… All I can do is find the humor in it and try to get by. I mean, a lot of people go through worse.”

A GoFundMe account created by her best friend raised nearly $12,000. The GoFundMe page was updated on Dec. 15 with a photo that shows McGee enjoying a tea party with her toddler daughter.

“Tonight we are able to Celebrate and We couldn’t be happier. Thank You,” McGee said in the photo caption.

Millions of renters face evictions when the federal ban on evictions expires on December 31st. Some city and county officials in Texas have extended the eviction ban through Feb. 1, 2021.

Watch the video below for more details:

Sources: AWM, Fox2/Youtube

 

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *