KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KCTV) – A national tenants’ association wants to amplify the voices of renters across the country with ties to Kansas City. The KC Tenants are founding members of a tenants’ association that wants to put pressure on the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
“I think if we are serious about providing electricity to tenants in Kansas City and across the state of Missouri, we have to be serious about providing electricity across the country,” said Jenay Manley, director of KC Tenants.
Union leaders say the association sends a clear message that local tenants are not alone.
“My landlord can raise the rent by any percentage he wants, and that’s generally true for government-subsidized properties. It’s really hard for tenants not knowing what our rent is going to be in a year,” said Kaylove Edwards, director of KC Tenants.
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The union supported an eviction moratorium that went into effect during the pandemic. The moratorium protected Kansas City residents during a public health crisis, but just last month lawmakers banned moratoriums in the state of Missouri.
“The citizens of Kansas City are at risk because we know the state can try to stop us from passing anything,” Manley said.
The KC Tenants are joining unions in Louisville, Chicago and Connecticut in an effort to build power so that the measures the union supports locally are not overridden at the state and federal levels. Their first call to action is a campaign to cap rents on public housing. Property managers like Stacy Johnson-Cosby say that’s not the solution.
“In many cases, we are asking the government to stay out of it and not to over-regulate us. Over-regulation drives up costs and puts people like me, the small housing provider, out of business,” said the president of the KC Regional Housing Alliance.
Cosby says landlords also want a say in these decisions, while the tenants’ association hopes their voices will be heard.
“I’m excited to see this replicated across the country so we can build real power and they can no longer compete with us,” said Kaylove Edwards, director of KC Tenants.
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