Housing

The Bowen Tower Tenant Union began withholding rent at the beginning of October in response to repeated flooding, pest infestations and plumbing issues that tenants say go ignored by management.

The Unified Government could vote this week on an ordinance that would make it illegal for people to sleep outside on public and private property. But without a single overnight shelter in Wyandotte County, community groups say the crackdown will only worsen conditions for unhoused residents.

Latinos are expected to be 70% of net new homeowners in the U.S. by 2040. Several local programs — mostly in Spanish, but some in English — are designed to help Latinos jump the hurdles that can stand between them and homeownership.

When the Trump administration revoked $2.3 million from a Kansas state agency, it hit rural communities hard. Housing providers already stretched thin closed their doors while others found temporary life rafts, bracing for what's next.

Kansas City’s Transition Center has trained experts in conflict resolution, job training and wellness. Classes are giving hope to an increasing number of repeat offenders that they can make long-term changes and stay out of prison.

The city won’t work with CJR Construction Group for two years, after the company repeatedly violated its prevailing wage rules. This is the first time Kansas City has debarred a contractor in years.

Sherri Foster missed several months of rent in 2020, but the lease on her Prairie Village house included a late fee of $20 per day. The court ruled she owed fees for all 1,062 days between her first missed payment and the judgment date.

Through June, 34,690 residential properties were sold in the state — the lowest number for half a year since at least 2015. Meanwhile, the median selling price of Missouri homes was the highest on record.

The legislation takes aim at ordinances passed in Kansas City and other Missouri cities that protect tenants from discrimination based on the source of their income — especially tenants who use federal housing choice vouchers to pay rent.

The developments are centered around Kansas City's historically disinvested 3rd and 5th council districts. The money will help transform Parade Park Homes, restore the Workhouse Castle and Historic Boone Theater, and preserve Satchel Paige's house.

November's vote is the culmination of a years-long debate in Prairie Village, which began as a fight over zoning and housing and wound up in a legal battle over city governance. But even if voters agree to "abandon" the current structure, there's no plan for replacing it with a different model.

Hotel rooms, buses, and liquor laws are just a few of the problems that Kansas City will need to figure out in the next year, before the first World Cup games kick off at Arrowhead Stadium next June.