Tenants

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 City prohibió a los propietarios de vivienda rechazar inquilinos basándose únicamente en la forma en que pagan el alquiler, su puntuación crediticia o desalojos anteriores. Un representante republicano de Missouri, que también es propietario de una vivienda, quiere anular la prohibición.

Kansas City banned landlords from rejecting tenants based solely on how they pay their rent, their credit score or previous evictions. A Missouri Republican representative, who's a landlord himself, wants to override the ban.

KC Tenants say they want Healthy Homes to enforce consequences for landlords who fail to address health code violations. Kansas City Health Department representatives say all documented issues at Quality Hill Towers were resolved, but tenants report little to no improvements.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

University City-based Matthew Chase is one of the busiest eviction attorneys in the St. Louis region — as evidenced by the fact that many of the area’s biggest landlords have picked them as their go-to guy. Chase files around 450 eviction cases in a typical month.