A 95-year-old lonely grandmother has been threatened with eviction over her granddaughter’s safe, socially-distanced visits.
Klara Kharkats is a senior California resident who has been forced to self-isolate at her apartment in Redondo Beach for her own safety due to the pandemic.
To make sure the grandmother still gets to see the people she loves, her granddaughter, Rozanna Handrich, visits her every two weeks, whereas the pair talk to each other from a safe distance.
Following a series of visits, however, the apartment complex’s officials threatened the grandma with eviction because of the “excessive noise” generated by the conversations she has with her granddaughter during the daytime every two weeks.
“We have received complaints regarding excessive noise coming from your unit… Please have your guest come and visit inside your unit,” the letter read.
“Continued violation of your lease rules and regulations will result in further action which may include eviction.”
As Handrich explained in an interview with CBS, she decided to stop going inside her grandmother’s apartment in order to keep the elderly woman safe.
“We are just really scared to get her sick. None of us want to be the reason anything happens to her,” she said.
The upset granddaughter also insisted she will not stop her visits despite the threatening letter her grandmother had received.
After the grandmother’s story went viral, the management of the apartment complex apologized for “the tone of the notice” but insisted that “yelling from the sidewalk” could be replaced with a chat via phones.
“We recognize the importance of families maintaining contact with their loved ones, particularly during this unprecedented time of COVID,” the statement obtained by CBS read.
“We regret the tone of the notice our manager sent to Ms. Kharats, which was taken from a form letter we send to tenants with chronic noise issues. We have sent a rescission notice to her this morning and apologize for the misunderstanding.
“The notice, which was prompted by complaints from other tenants, should have been more sensitive and spelled out the solution more clearly.
“We encourage family members to continue visiting their grandmother while maintaining CDC guidelines of wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
“Her health and theirs will be preserved by following those recommendations.
“In this case, we encourage the family to use their cell phones instead of yelling from the sidewalk.”
Replaced!