TOPEKA (KSNT) - A local landlord is under fire this week following public outcry from numerous Topeka renters who say they're dealing with piles of trash and poor living conditions.
Many Topekans are coming forward this week and putting pressure on local landlord Lew McGinnis and his company Eucalyptus LLC. Complaints from renters focus on piles of trash spilling out of overflowing dumpsters and other issues with their apartment units.
KSNT 27 News examined what rights landlords and tenants have in these situations and followed up with the parties involved in this situation on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Some Topekans, like Chelsea Miller, say these problems present a danger to the health and safety of renters.
"It's a safety hazard and it's a health hazard to live here," Miller said. "I have literally no running water to my tub."
Miller said other problems, like mold and old trash, are contributing to the problems where she lives. She is also worried about being retaliated against for voicing these concerns.
"Seeing other people post the pictures, it was mortifying," Miller said. "To not know these people, but to see their housing situations worse than mine... it's sad, it's disheartening."
The City of Topeka told 27 News tenants do have some options when facing scenarios where they feel their health and safety is in jeopardy. Topeka's code compliance holds a wealth of information on possible code violations tenants can consult.
Teresa Baker with Housing and Credit Counseling Inc., a non-profit that helps tenants and landlords understand their respective rights in difficult circumstances, touched on resources available to tenants in Topeka. Both local and state ordinances can help tenants and landlords understand the dynamics of retaliatory eviction policies.
"They actually strengthened the ordinance in July of this year," Baker said. "That is stating that landlords cannot retaliate against a tenant because a tenant has complained in good faith about an issue impacting health and safety."
Tenants also have the ability to back out of a contract under the right conditions. The 14-day/30-day notice gives tenants the option to request service within 14 days. If the landlord doesn't act, tenants have the right to move out in 30 days without facing a penalty.
"But if they start fixing it, then the 14-30 basically starts over," Miller said. "And it's like I'm not going to continue to serve a man 14-30 700 times for him to get the point I want my stuff fixed."
Lew McGinnis owns more than 30 apartment complexes in the Capital City. 27 News reached out to him on Dec. 17 for comment on the situation and received a response from an attorney with Eucalyptus LLC.
"We have looked into the allegation that work orders are not being resolved, however, I do not believe this is an accurate or true portrayal of the situation," Meredith Monaco, corporate counsel for Eucalyptus LLC, said. "We maintain a large staff of full-time maintenance personnel as well as plumbers, electricians, and HVAC technicians. If a maintenance person is unable to address the source of an issue, the plumbers and electricians are dispatched daily, and the property staff has the number to report emergencies for immediate dispatch of specialized personnel."
Monaco said some types of service requests may require more than one visit to resolve completely with staff making notes to return to finish the work. She also called allegations of retaliatory evictions against Topeka tenants false and confirmed there was no evidence of black mold in Miller's apartment following a City of Topeka inspection.
"The process in which our evictions are filed does not allow for any sort of retaliation," Monaco said. "An attorney and paralegal file all evictions based upon past due rent, not on the manager’s discretion, so those are not decisions that are reactionary or preferential. If a tenant issues a 14/30 day notice to the landlord, the landlord has 14 days, under K.S.A. 58-2553, to initiate a good faith effort to remedy the issue, and if she doesn’t feel that took place, the tenant is legally entitled to break the lease and move without being charged for the remainder of the term of the lease."
McGinnis was served more than 30 violations by the City of Topeka due to violations at various apartment sites around the city. The majority of the violations stemmed from the Village of Old Town and Washburn South apartment complexes.
A mix-up resulting from a switch in trash collection agencies was blamed by Eucalyptus LLC on the piles of garbage. New dumpsters are expected to be delivered to the apartments to help deal with the trash problems.
City of Topeka officials rolled out updates to its retaliatory action ordinance in July 2024 to help protect the rights of tenants. Tenants were reminded they have a right to a clean, safe and sanitary environment and should be able to live without fear of retaliation from property owners. You can learn more about the retaliatory action ordinance with the City of Topeka by clicking here.
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