SAN ANTONIO – Updated April 28:
A worker at the Olmos Club Apartments said the locks were removed from the doorknobs and the issue has been resolved.
Bexar County Precinct 2 Commissioner Justin Rodriguez said about 50 residents who were locked out of their apartments were allowed back to their units.
Rodriguez said he’s pleased apartment management decided to reverse course.
“We haven’t had a whole lot of issues, but if anything, I hope this sends a message to people that you just can’t do this. You have to respect the fact there is a moratorium on evictions, number one. And then, secondly, it’s in the general public health interest that we keep people at home if at all possible.”
KSAT 12 News reached out to apartment management but we have yet to hear from them.
Original story:
About 50 residents of an apartment complex in Olmos Park found themselves locked out of their units Monday despite a moratorium that is supposed to prevent evictions due to the coronavirus crisis.
The residents arrived at their units at the Olmos Club Apartments in the 800 block of Basse Road to find doorknobs bolted and letters stuffed into doorways.
"It is sad. It is sad when somebody put a lock on the door, even though they don’t have money for two or three months. Right now, we don’t need that,” said Luis Falcon, whose son was among those locked out of their apartment.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said he was not happy to hear about the incident and said it will be corrected.
“This is the first flagrant violation we had of this, and we've asked the district attorney and other law enforcement to look into it and see what options we have against the company who did that,” Wolff said.
An eviction moratorium, which will be extended beyond April 30, is designed to protect renters from being evicted. The city of San Antonio also has a program that helps residents with funding for housing.
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March. The first case confirmed in the U.S. was in mid-January and the first case confirmed in San Antonio was in mid-February.
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