House Lockout in Kansas City, MO

Lofts, divided houses and detached homes

The building decides how a lockout goes here. In the River Market, the district that began as Westport Landing, riverfront warehouses now hold lofts, restaurants and shops. The street entrance, the elevator and the loft door can each be controlled by someone different. Only your own unit door is yours to have opened; the shared doors are for whoever runs the building.

Quality Hill, on the west side of downtown above the West Bottoms, followed another path. Its houses were later divided among several families, so a house there may have a shared front door and a separate lock on each unit. A lockout can then mean the outer door, your own door, or both.

In a detached house, name the locked door and its lock: knob lock, deadbolt or a keypad with a dead battery.

Waiting out the weather

A doorstep offers little cover. NOAA's Missouri summary describes arctic air in winter and summer humidity that has trended upward since the mid-20th century, so on a January night wait in a car, at a neighbor's or in an open shop instead of on the porch, and on a muggy afternoon find shade and water. If a young child or anyone who cannot open the door is alone inside, or someone needs medical help, call 911 first.

When a landlord changed the locks

Being shut out by a landlord is a different problem from an ordinary lockout. RSMo 441.233 treats removing or excluding a tenant without judicial process and a court order, or causing the doors or locks to be removed, as forcible entry and detainer under chapter 534, with an exception for abandonment under RSMo 441.065. This is general information, not legal advice.

What to have ready

• photo ID showing the address, or a lease, deed or utility bill in your name
• the neighborhood, cross streets and unit number
• for a loft or divided house, who controls the street door and elevator

Missouri Locksmith Pros takes service requests from homes, businesses and drivers in Kansas City. The house lockout page describes the service. If a lost key caused the lockout, lock rekeying makes that key useless, and the Kansas City page covers the neighborhoods.