landlord

Residents of an apartment complex in Gardner, Kansas, were kicked out of their homes earlier this year when the city condemned the property for unsafe living conditions, but one change in a law could help. Plus: A Missouri researcher says "radical empathy" can help combat today's conspiracy theories, which may help when you go home for the holidays.

Applying the Kansas Consumer Protection Act to residential rentals could help balance power between landlords and tenants. A lawmaker hopes it may force landlords to improve their properties so tenants don’t live in squalor.

First opened in 2018, the Kansas City cocktail bar will shut its doors at the end of January. The new landlord plans to convert the space into a new lounge concept — to the dismay of many longtime customers. But Afterword's leaders are hunting for a new home.

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.

Corporate landlords have become more common since the Great Recession. Housing advocates say that hurts tenants.

Residents of the 188-unit Aspen Place Apartments were given just 48 hours to move after the city of Gardner said the water infrastructure deteriorated so badly that it presented safety concerns. A new lawsuit alleges that the owner was aware for years about the issues but took no action to address them.

The Republican bill was prompted by legislation in Kansas City and other communities that banned landlords from denying leases to renters on the grounds that they receive housing assistance, such as Section 8 vouchers.

The law allows the city to fine landlords who are found to have retaliated against tenants for complaining to the city’s code enforcement department. The city has only received a few complaints so far, and hasn't escalated any or issued fines, but that may change as more residents find out about the ordinance.

Last summer, Kansas City banned landlords from rejecting tenants solely because of how they pay their rent, their credit score, or previous evictions. Now, a Missouri Republican representative, who's a landlord himself, wants to overturn that law.

Kansas law prohibits landlords from retaliating against tenants for reporting poor living conditions. But it lacks enforcement and leaves tenants compromising their health and safety to avoid eviction, a new survey shows.

The program manager estimates around 50 landlord-tenant cases in Sedgwick County had been mediated as of late September, more than a year after the program begun. Meanwhile, the county typically sees around 5,000 eviction filings, or more, per year.

Missouri landlords were found to cash in on the State Assistance for Housing Relief program — sometimes for upwards of $1 million — even as they failed to provide tenants basic maintenance and upkeep.