Two tenant unions in the Kansas City area, representing one apartment building in downtown Kansas City and another in eastern Independence, have collectively agreed to withhold their rent starting in October as part of citywide tenants union KC Tenants’ first-ever coordinated rent strike.
Members of the Quality Hill Towers Tenant Union and the Independence Towers Tenant Union voted to authorize a rent strike after they say months of negotiating with landlords and federal regulators to improve deteriorating living conditions did not yield any improvements.
Tenants across both properties are withholding more than $60,000 in rent for October as a result of the strike, according to KC Tenants.
“The idea is to create a financial crisis for the boss or for the landlord that forces them to the negotiating table,” said KC Tenants Director Tara Raghuveer.
The landlord and property manager for Independence Towers did not respond to a request for comment. Sentinel, which manages the Quality Hill property, called the rent strike "misguided."
Missouri law allows tenants to withhold rent if the landlord breaks what’s called the “implied warranty habitability,” which requires the landlord to maintain the habitability, sanitation and security of the unit. But the state does not protect tenants who join a rent strike, who are at risk of eviction.
That did not stop Quality Hill Towers resident Lawrence Sims.
“Our power is our rent, and we will not hesitate to flex it,” he said.
Both apartment buildings are supported by loans backed by Fannie Mae. According to KC Tenants, this is the first strike targeting the Federal Financing Agency, Fannie Mae’s regulator.
Tenants are demanding new ownership of their buildings, national caps on rent and collectively bargained leases as part of the rent strike.
So far, 54 tenants at Quality Hill Towers have agreed to not pay rent this month, representing 23% of all occupied units in the building. At Independence Towers, more than 55% of the residents are withholding October's rent.
Both tenant unions are prepared to continue withholding rent into November if their demands are not met.
Raghuveer said on KCUR’s Up to Date that the strikes also call attention to the role the federal government plays in enabling negligent landlords by continuing to give them loans.
“We're asking the federal regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to hold them to the task and actually hold them accountable and say to them, ‘If you're going to get publicly backed financing, you've got to do right by your tenants,’” she said.
Quality Hill Towers
The Quality Hill Towers Tenant Union organized with KC Tenants this summer. The union has 152 members, which represents 65% of the 234 occupied units in Quality Hill Towers.
It’s the largest tenant union of its kind in the Kansas City region.
Located on Jefferson Street by Case Park, Quality Hill overlooks the West Bottoms neighborhood downtown.
Sarvesh Patel has lived at Quality Hill Towers for more than a year. In that time, Patel says he has dealt with roaches, lights that don’t work, tubs that won’t drain and windows that don’t close.
When Patel renewed his lease this June, his rent jumped from $747 to $910, a 22% increase.
“Every time I pay my rent, I feel sad,” Patel said. “I get two paychecks a month, and one of them goes straight to my rent. I pay $910 and I'm living with roaches. I pay $910 and nothing changes.”
Quality Hill Towers is owned by Sentinel Real Estate Corporation. Fannie Mae provided a $9 million loan so Sentinel could purchase the building.
Sentinel said in a statement that management has been working with the tenant union in good faith for more than a year, and respects tenants' right to organize. It said the tenant union's claims are false, and called the rent strike "short-sighted."
"The work being demanded either has already been completed or is underway — executing a rent strike will only impede the property’s ability to complete these necessary repairs," Sentinel said in the statement. "This outcome would negatively impact all residents — even those who choose not to participate in the rent strike."
Raghuveer said the response from federal regulators so far has been inadequate.
“What they're not doing is committing to come to the negotiating table with tenants,” Raghuveer said on KCUR’s Up to Date. “What they're not doing yet is committing to the systemic fixes that tenants are actually seeking through this strike.”
After forming, the tenant union demanded that federal regulators foreclose on Sentinel and work with residents to find a new landlord. Members want a new landlord to collectively bargain a lease with the tenant union.
The union wants federal regulators to introduce a 3% cap on rent increases for current and future properties nationwide that receive federally backed loans.
For residents at Quality Hill Towers, who have dealt with poor living conditions that have gone unaddressed, a rent strike is the only option left.
“We have nothing left to lose, our homes are already threatened,” Sims said. “The worst they could do to us, they're already doing.”
Independence Towers
The tenants who reside in Independence Towers, located at 728 North Jennings Rd. in Independence, say they have been living with pests and poorly maintained units.
The Independence Towers Union formed in May. Its 40 members represent 65% of the building’s occupied units.
The apartment complex has seen a lot of incidents just this year.
In July, a child died after falling out of an open window on the 8th floor. Many residents had their windows open that day due to the lack of working air conditioning units.
One side of the building has a boarded-up window surrounded by scorch marks, evidence of units that caught fire in June.
Residents say they haven’t been able to access common sections of the building, like the community room, for months.
Anna Heetmann, a resident at the building and leader of KC Tenants, says she has had a two-foot hole in her ceiling for three years.
Heetmann moved into Independence Towers about five years ago, paying $565 per month for a one-bedroom apartment. Now, she pays $860 a month for the same unit.
She said her team has tried to negotiate and communicate with Fannie Mae; the Federal Housing Administration and the current, court-appointed property manager TriGild Inc. They say they’ve yet to reach an agreement or see improvements in the complex.
When U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat who represents Kansas City, visited Independence Towers last month to see the conditions, he said he would support a rent strike at the building.
TriGild, Inc's vice president for commercial real estate, with whom tenants say they've been trying to negotiate, did not respond to a request for comment. The main phone line for Independence Towers did not connect.
The Independence Towers union, like Quality Hill, hopes to establish a collectively-bargained lease agreement with the next buyer of the building — the group doesn’t want a landlord who won’t keep up with maintenance.
Heetman said the problem isn’t limited to the metro, or Missouri.
“I am really proud of all of my neighbors for being so brave and for coming together and really putting in the work to make this happen,” she said.
