Tenants

The city previously made a deal to subsidize rent at the apartment complex in the Historic Northeast in exchange for repairs. Conditions at the property have gotten worse, and the city is considering stepping in once again to make it habitable.

Residents at the North Lawn apartment complex in the Historic Northeast got together and formed a tenant's union earlier this year. They say their landlord hasn’t held up his end of the bargain while they’ve been dealing with unbearable heat.

Residents in a Northeast apartment complex won historic rent protections in 2023. As those are running out, they’ve expanded their tenant union. They demand repairs and affordable rent from their landlord.

Longtime KC Tenants organizer Jenay Manley is taking the reins of the tenant rights advocacy organization from founder Tara Raghuveer, who is now focused on tenant issues on the national level. Raghuveer said Kansas City has been at the "vanguard" of this recent movement.

More than half the renters living at a Raytown apartment complex recently ended a four-month rent strike against their landlord. Members of the Bowen Tower Apartments union share why the strike took place and what deal they managed to agree on.

Joe Mount and Tina McDonald are two leaders in the Bowen Tower Tenant Union, a union of renters in Raytown. After a months-long rent strike, they reached an agreement with their California-based landlord that includes lower rent and utility rates, plus commitments to fix longstanding maintenance issues.

Tenants at Bowen Tower Apartments began withholding rent last October. An agreement with the California-based landlord now includes lower rent and utility rates, and commitments to fix longstanding problems in the building.

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.

Tenants at two apartment complexes in east Kansas City and another in Lee’s Summit unionized for better living conditions. Their landlord is a real estate company in New York, and a big player in federally subsidized affordable housing.

Residents went on strike last October over deteriorating living conditions and longstanding maintenance problems. Under the deal with the new building owner, residents will get the opportunity to renew their leases and will not have to owe any back rent from the strike.

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.