This seems a bit extreme to me. I didn’t realize a clause like this could even be in a lease. How in the heck would a landlord know you were nabbed on a shoplifting charge? I could understand evicting a family that had multiple drug charges, prostitution, or crimes of violence getting evicted. They could be considered a menace or bad influence on the neighborhood. Kicking out the resident drug dealer would make sense.
But a shoplifting charge? Which is a misdemeanor? I guess we’re living in a cold world today.
I don’t see how the policy applies. Shoplifting from a K-Mart is “on or near the grounds”? Is the complex right next to the K-Mart or something? This does seem like an unusually strict policy.
I also wonder how the manager found out at all. Aren’t juvenile arrest records confidential? I wonder if there is more to the story than is being reported.
But I don’t understand why she can’t just find another apartment.
Come to think of it… Aren’t juvenile crime records sealed? I didn’t think anyone could find out what charges were filed against a kid. That way it doesn’t hurt them as adults looking for jobs or going to college.
I suspect there is more too. She could fight it - as pointed out the lease says “on or near” and I don’t see how this counts unless it is behind the KMart.
She appears to be poor. Perhaps she wasn’t paying her rent and whatever state she is in it takes longer to kick someone out over rent vs breach of lease. I am just speculating.
If the comments on the article from people who claim to know the family are accurate (allegedly the kid’s dad is in prison for murder and mom’s new guy is a drug addict who has charges of child abuse against the boy pending), I can’t say that I really blame the landlord for not wanting to deal with this family any longer. Would you want to rent to a family of criminals? I wouldn’t.
I’m sure someone will help the family out now that the story is going nationwide. All we can do is hope this is a wake up call to the kid that criminal behavior has horrible consequences so that his life might turn out better than his dad’s.
“White Trash Family Lands in Another Heap of Trouble” could be an alternate headline. It is sad but completely predictable. It isn’t the first for them and won’t be the last unless they make some serious changes. I don’t mean to sound too cruel because I grew up with a whole lot of white trash families and situations like that are just par for the course but it is their own fault fundamentally. It is a shame a 13 year old can trigger than for a whole family but I doubt he popped his crime cherry at that particular K-Mart just that once. If I was the landlord, I would be looking for any excuse to get rid of them too.
Does Section 8 housing have rules like this? IIRC, we’ve had a couple of spots on the local news about folks getting kicked out of subsadized housing for criminal activity that violates their lease.
The complex is at 2601 Belford Avenue and there is a Kmart at 2809 North Avenue. Google Maps says it is 0.3 miles away. Looking at the map, it appears to be 1000 feet away as the crow flies (a bit further as the crow drives).
According to Google Maps, the complex is known as “Garden Village Affordable Housing.” I doubt that the typical resident can just pick up and move anywhere they like on a whim.
It’s across the street, if you put the parking lot on the side of the building, this kid’s apartment could be inside the parking lot, depending on which unit he lives in. It’s difficult to imagine a major retail store being closer to someone’s home than this one is to his.
Update added to the story today:
“We have learned more this morning from speaking with the mother of Tanya Abbey. She tells KJCT that managers at the apartment complex approached Ms. Abbey asking about a stolen pair of shoes, which they had heard through the grapevine had been taken by her son Oren. When she admitted the shoes had indeed been shoplifted, the managers told her the theft was grounds for eviction. Ms. Abbey also apparently received some sort of document regarding a possible eviction, which we hope to obtain. Tanya’s mother also shared with us that Tanya was late on her rent. She paid that today and was told the eviction had been voided.”
Funny how the family didn’t mention the late rent before this, huh?