After losing everything in apartment fire, KC tenants rally to action: ‘We deserved more’

Shampelle Davis, 25, had just laid down her 6-month-old baby for an afternoon nap earlier this month when she smelled barbecue. Then, the room quickly filled with smoke. Her baby coughed. She ran and grabbed a wet towel, placing it on her baby’s face as she yelled to her partner and two other children.

“It’s really hard because it’s like everything that I work for just went up in flames,” she said later of the fire that consumed her Kansas City apartment in the Aster building, leaving her and her neighbors without a home.

While she recognizes she’s fortunate to be alive and to have her family out safe, Davis now believes the April 11 fire that engulfed her apartment could have been prevented had building owner Matt McGee and management company North Terrace Property Management done proper maintenance.

After the fire, Davis, and other residents partnered with the Midtown Tenants Union, part of KC Tenants, demanding compensation and restitution, and for management to address the “neglectful” conditions they’d lived in before the fire displaced nine people, including three children.

“This whole situation isn’t okay at all,” Davis said. “I have three kids and now we are homeless, technically, and stuff like this truly hurts people. We have to rebuild everything.”

In their letter demanding action, tenants claimed they were “completely ignored and left in the dark” the weekend after the fire. They said their belongings were put at risk of theft and further damage.

Tenants also said the maintenance team at North Terrace ignored multiple reports of problems with pests, mold, security, heating and insulation for years — illustrating a pattern of negligence. In fact, they said the damage done by the fire was just the latest in a long list of grievances with apartment management over living conditions.

Rent cost the family $895 a month for a two bedroom apartment, but Davis said some of the space was unusable. Her family couldn’t use the back bedroom because of extreme temperature issues.

“It’s like you were outside,” she said.

When she first moved in, Davis plugged in the washer and dryer and started seeing sparks fly. Plus, her sliding back door could easily be pried open, she said, even when locked.

“Being a mom and me having three kids, that was a major, major concern,” she said. “And they never came and fixed it.”

One time, the window in her son’s room blew in and he caught it. She heard screaming and came running. Luckily, he was able to catch it without injury, she said.

Complaints submitted to maintenance were ignored, up until a few days before the fire. Then, what wasn’t damaged by the flames, Davis said, suffered smoke and water damage.

“Honestly, I feel like we as a collective in that building deserved more. We shouldn’t have had to live like that. We shouldn’t have had to be paying them, especially if they weren’t gonna give us the accommodations that we were promised,” Davis said. “This is unfair. No one should have to do this. Especially families.”

In their demands, tenants asked for a reimbursement of April’s rent and for their full deposits. Additionally, they listed demands for pet boarding fee compensation, restitution of perishable goods, moving expenses and $300 per month per unit for each month they suffered inadequate heating.

On Wednesday, the tenants and the management company came to an agreement, which was finalized Friday.

The agreement

In the agreement, tenants without renter’s insurance will receive $1,500. They will also get prorated April rent as well as their entire deposit. Those who choose to move to another property managed by the company will receive a 20% discount on their rent for one year. All five tenants will get rental verification that shows they are in good financial standing and are released from their current leases.

“I’m really proud of them and like proud of our deal on like sticking together for this win. It’s the least they could give, but it’s, it’s really not enough, you know, for what they’ve been through,” said Gabe Coppage, community organizer with the citywide tenant union KC Tenants.

Three of the six tenants are leaving North Terrace management. Two took the deal to stay and relocate for the discount. One tenant left the union agreement and took a deal with the management company.

Despite the financial win, the tenants are now searching for apartments. They will have to put down application fees, deposits and submit background and credit checks. All while paying for temporary housing and food, and working to replace what was lost.

The city, Coppage said, did not reach out to tenants after the fire. There isn’t a program in place to help relocate tenants in Kansas City, though he is in contact with Councilmember Melissa Robinson, who is aware of the situation.

“Alone we are powerless. Like no matter what our rights are, the dynamic of this relationship is the landlords have a lot of like power and can manipulate because they know we don’t have anywhere else to go,” he said.

‘Win back some of what we lost’

It’s going to take time to rebuild their lives. The fire, Davis pointed out, damaged more than just her home, it also hurt her livelihood.

In addition to being a full-time student, Davis owns her own business called Gemstone Beauty. In her free time, she makes naturally derived hair, nail and skin products for those with melanin skin. All of which she believes were also damaged in the fire.

“All of my products were in my storage closet in that home. And some stuff is not supposed to reach certain temperature, some things are not supposed to be around smoke. And so a lot of the stuff I’m gonna have to end up throwing out and replacing,” she said. “It’s insane. That’s why the impact that this has on us has been major.”

Since the fire, Davis and her three children, all under the age of five, have camped out on mattresses on the floor of her mother’s living room. It’s a difficult position for a young mom who worked hard to build a home for her family.

“I graduated early at 17 years old. I have busted my butt in school. I got my liberal arts degree and I’m working on my second one as to be a nail tech,” she said. “I’ve done the things that I was supposed to do and I worked my tail off, and I was proud of it because I worked so hard and I got this place big enough for us and fit us all comfortably.”

Representatives of the management company did not return The Star’s requests for comment.

Davis is currently looking for a house to rent. She wants her children to have the space and freedom again to be kids.

“I’m glad we were able to win back some of what we lost,” she said. “But it’ll never take away the experience and the feelings I felt that day having to rush my kids out the house and hope they don’t have any smoke inhalation.”