Midtown Renaissance

I'm posting about a current complaint to the landlord, Midtown Renaissance of Oklahoma City, that I made through the Better Business Bureau.

My original complaint is below, followed by the response from Midtown Renaissance of Oklahoma City. In the response, the landlord accused me of lying. Any landlord that so casually accuses a tenant of lying should likely get a second look before signing a lease.

Original complaint as follows:

"I live in one of Midtown Renaissance's apartments. I was on my patio last Saturday when the wind pushed the sliding door closed. The door locked automatically, which it had never done before. I had never had the door lock while outside as there is no lock or handle outside, and I was never told that this door was self-locking. Now I know, but unfortunately, I had to call Midtown Renaissance to be let back in and I was charged $100 for the lockout fee on my account balance. The self-locking doors should be mentioned in some way so that this is not something that residents need to learn only by getting locked out and having to pay the subsequent lockout fee. I am willing to pay a lockout fee if this happens to this door in the future, but I should not be billed $100 for being locked out of a door that should not have locked automatically. If the door is indeed designed to lock automatically, residents should be notified upon move-in. There is no way to get back in the apartment if the door suddenly locks without notice, and this is a problem not only for residents but also for the management of the apartment."

Response from Midtown Renaissance:

"We are in receipt of the complaint filed with you by a resident at one of our properties. This is regarding a lock out fee that was assessed on March 23, 2019.
First, the resident claims the door was "pushed closed by the wind". These patio doors are very large, very heavy, sliding glass doors (see photos attached). There is no way the wind could have closed the door as they take a good deal of strength to open/close. Furthermore, when looking at historical weather data for that date (screenshot attached), one can see we had relatively light winds that day with them being 5-15 mph which is typical of Oklahoma.

Additionally, he claims the lock on the door is self-locking. This is also not true (again, see attached photos). These are manual locks that can only be engaged by the door being fully closed and the latch pressed down from the inside. The locks also have a mechanism that causes them to unlock should you close it while in the locked position. They also have handles on the outside for access from the patio despite his claim to the contrary. It is certainly possible that something may have fallen or otherwise blocked the door's ability to slide open after he went outside but I can say with no uncertainty it did not lock itself.

He was made aware of the fee at the time he called to be let into his apartment and he agreed to pay it. He also states that he contacted us to discuss the fee but that did not happen. He has contested other lock out fees in the past when he's lost or misplaced his keys even though our lease agreement clearly outlines our policy with regard to after-hours lock out calls (see attached). It is always our wish to come to amicable terms with our residents. However, based on these facts, it is our position that this resident does in fact owe the $100 lock out fee in accordance with his lease agreement."

I responded as follows:

"The door closed as a result of the wind, and if the door is not self locking as the response claimed, why did the sliding door lock on its own?

If it is indeed not self locking, then this is a malfunction of a device in the apartment and the landlord is required to service it as necessary."