kc tenants

At the risk of eviction, tenants at Quality Hill Towers and Independence Towers launched a coordinated rent strike over what they say are poor conditions and rising prices. They're recruiting more residents to join, and pushing for help from federal housing authorities.

Tenants at two apartment complexes in the Kansas City area are now withholding rent payments, in the city’s first rent strike since 1980. Rent strikes are illegal in Missouri, but residents say it's worth the risk, after dealing with deteriorating living conditions and a lack of maintenance.

Tenants in Quality Hill Towers and Independence Towers have dealt with deteriorating living conditions that have gone unaddressed for years. With no commitments from their landlords, the two tenant unions voted to begin withholding their rent this month.

KC Tenants announced this week that it is a founding local of the Tenant Union Federation, a national union of unions that aims to organize for renter protections at the federal level.

The Kansas City, Missouri-based tenants rights advocacy group joined other tenants unions in Illinois, Connecticut, Kentucky and Montana to form the Tenant Union Federation. TUF hopes to create more effective organizing practices among tenants nationwide and push for federally regulated rent control.

Tenants at Westport House Apartments lost air conditioning over the weekend. In response, Kansas City officials sent a cooling bus and medical personnel to the apartment building.

Jackson County voters decided against extending a sales tax to fund a new baseball stadium downtown and renovations at Arrowhead, by a margin of 58 to 42%. What happens next with Kansas City and the teams?

Voters in Jackson County voted by nearly a three to two margin to oppose the Royals and Chiefs' 3/8th-cent stadium sales tax extension. KC Tenants, the citywide tenants union in Kansas City, played a big role in the "vote no" campaign.

The Kansas City Council approved the creation of an Office of Language Access in a 12-1 vote last month. Stakeholders hope the office will be comprehensive and implemented in every corner of local government.

Housing in the Kansas City area, and in Missouri overall, is quickly becoming unaffordable. The city and state are seeing some of the fastest rent increases in the country, and local housing experts and advocates say Kansas City needs to do more to protect residents.

Advocates say the anti-discrimination law — which bans landlords from denying tenants based solely on their source of income, credit score or previous evictions — will open up more housing options for thousands of renters.

Over the past six months, rent prices have decreased in every region except for the Midwest, where a housing shortage and a competitive market are keeping rent high.