Apartment forced pregnant couple to sleep in their car over a $5,000 fee dispute. When they found their locks changed, they called 911 with receipts
'You didn’t ask me for any consent. You changed the lock to my apartment?' Nkosi confronted management in a recorded conversation
In what may seem like the opening scene of a suspense movie, a North Harris County police officer was shocked to find a couple sleeping in their car after they got locked out of their own apartment. Mohammed Nkosi and his pregnant wife had already spent nearly 48 hours without power at the Palms on Rolling Creek Apartments when their situation took an even more alarming turn. After their calls to management went unanswered, they returned home to find their locks changed, with management claiming they owed $5,000. Now, the couple is planning legal action, according to an August 11, 2026 report by KPRC 2 Click2Houston.
Diabetic without a fridge
It was Friday when the power was cut off. Nkosi’s pregnant wife couldn’t refrigerate her insulin. In this vulnerable phase of their life, they had to take shelter in their car and later in a hotel room. When calls to the management were ignored, Nkosi called 911. When the deputy arrived, he too was knocked for a loop because there was an electrical current in the breaker box. The couple, however, had been locked out of the apartment. The management had changed the locks without notifying the couple or providing any prior notice.
Management or muddle?
“You didn’t ask me for any consent. You changed the lock to my apartment?" Nkosi confronted management in a recorded conversation. A representative named Frank gave a blunt response. “I don’t have to ask you anything,” Frank exclaimed. When a KPRC reporter contacted Frank, he excused any explanation by saying that Nkosi and his wife owed money to the management and faced eviction. He recklessly deflected the entire blame onto the couple, saying they didn’t respond to the management’s calls.
“The tenant is not responding to any of our phone calls and text messages. You can’t just be here and report us badly. If it’s the tenant’s fault, he does not want to pay. Do you know the real story? He owes f------ $5,000, ma’am,” Frank told the reporter. In contrast, Nkosi shared the rent payment receipts from the Zelle account and bank statements that clearly proved that he paid all the electric bills on time. “I have all the evidence to challenge that to the highest capacity possible that I can challenge it,” Nkosi explained.
The righteous fight
After the unlawful lockout, Nkosi called 911 again. An officer came, noted down the information, but so far, nothing has been done in this matter. The couple still hasn’t got access to their apartment. They are now planning legal action. “We don’t even have access to our apartment, and all our belongings are in there. We have paid our rent. We have done every single thing that we have to do on our end. I just want to know why?” Nkosi protested.
Epidemic of evictions
Sadly, evictions are happening on every second street in America, and thousands of people are jostling in powerlessness. According to the data documented by researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, around 2.7 million households, on average, are threatened by eviction each year in the United States. Another study, published in PNAS, found that roughly 1 in 5 Black Americans living in renter households, just like Nkosi and his wife, are threatened with eviction annually.
That's clearly unlawful
Viewers shared similar experiences of eviction, reassuring Nkosi not to fear and offering suggestions for him to better deal with the situation. @saldiven2009 commented, “Even if the tenant is ‘facing eviction,’ you can't change their locks to prevent their entry to the property until the eviction has been approved by the court. KPRC needs to contact the owner of the property rather than the management. The owner is the one who is going to be on the receiving end of a lawsuit over this.” @leemusick86 speculated, “The manager needs to give them 24 hours. It's law!”
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