‘Infested’: Apartment nightmare for metro mother
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An Oklahoma City woman says faulty appliances, heat problems and a roach infestation sent her running from her apartment after just a few months.
Now she says she’s stuck paying rent for two different places because she’s locked into a lease she can’t get out of.
Kasaundra told KFOR she’s a recent transplant who moved to Oklahoma for a fresh start.
After shuffling back and forth to a hotel, she was eager to get a stable place to live for her young family.
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“They had told me that this unit was a [former] Airbnb, that was listed regularly. It was good, it had been remodeled,” she said.
But her dream quickly became a nightmare, after months dealing with problems and little to no repairs.
“I have to leave my oven open. I have a space heater for my living room [and] I have not had a fridge in my home with my kids… I still have maintenance requests that haven’t even been filled, that haven’t even been opened,” she added.
Then there are the roaches.
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“Infested,” she said, motioning to the insects as they scattered across the floor.
Kasaundra can’t afford to break her lease due to penalty payments she says would be three times her monthly rent.
But, with two small children and a third on the way, she can’t afford to stay, so she found a new apartment and is now paying two rents.
“I work two jobs to afford, just to afford to get into my new apartment,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t want any other single mom in the situation where I’m in.”
Oklahoma is one of a few states without landlord retaliation protection.
A bill that could have added those tenant rights during the last legislative session did not make it to the Oklahoma Senate floor.
“We’ve been able to make progress toward strengthening tenant protection laws, but we still have a lot of work to do,” said Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City.
Dollens is a longtime advocate for housing rights; Kasaundra’s apartment is in his district.
“It makes Oklahoma a vulnerable state where these predatory landlords can take advantage of low income tenants and not have to face repercussions,” he continued.
“Yet again we’re hearing of negligent landlords that aren’t addressing basic improvements such as heat, water, air. This stuff has got to stop. I think I hear from my constituents at least two or three times a month of this exact same situation,” Dollens said.
While Kasaundra said she’s grateful she was able to find a new place to live, she’s also anxious about the future.
“I feel relieved that I do have a new home to go to [but] I’m still very upset that I have to continue to pay [for] this,” she added.
Kasaundra hopes her story will warn others to exercise extra caution before signing a lease.
A 2022 update to Oklahoma’s Landlord and Tenant Act means renters can deduct up to one month’s rent for repairs that aren’t otherwise being made.
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