By: Pauline Dulang, Reporter
DOWNTOWN OMAHA, Neb. – Attorney Dave Pantos and Flora apartment tenants are set to file charges against Omaha landlord William Staneck by the end of the week in court.
Titus Moore and his daughter currently live in a two-bed hotel room with no proper kitchen to cook. They were kicked out of their Flora unit after the city condemned the complex for numerous safety violations in January.
Since their move, they only have access to microwave and pantry food provided by Omaha non-profit Together.
“The landlord didn’t want to do any work to the building. There was no power or heat, so the city came to shut the building down,” said Moore. “It had rats, bats, mice, everything.”
Moore is thankful to Together for providing him and his daughter a roof over their heads, but he still wishes he could cook in a real kitchen.
Tenants like Titus are still thinking of their next move.
Moore is looking to join the fight against Stanek, not only as an evacuated tenant, but as Stanek’s very own underpaid maintenance worker. Moore and his brother work for Stanek as property maintenance workers for the Flora apartment.
Moore and his brother typically spend most of their time working in the Flora basement. He said even though each tenant would complain about critical repair issues, Stanek wouldn’t provide the materials needed to fix it correctly and safely.
Attorney Dave Pantos is working pro bono with seven tenants against Stanek. He sent a letter to Stanek on Feb. 16 demanding for $10,000 per client.
Pantos said although his seven clients each have slightly different situations, they all have one thing in common, and that is the mental and physical trauma associated with the living conditions at 25th and Jones.
“They’re just tenants and they have no power. And the landlords have power, they have lobbyists, they have lawyers. It’s an unequal situation,” said Pantos.
Pantos said in addition to the lack of enforcement on basic housing codes in Omaha, the Nebraska Residential Landlord Tenant Act is stacked against their favor. This makes it easy for landlords to collect rent and exploit disadvantaged people.
Stanek has not responded to Pantos’ demand letter. He is in the process of selling the Flora building.
