How a new agreement prevented mass eviction at a northeast Kansas City apartment building

The new landlord of a Northeast apartment complex, laden with ownership controversies and city code violations, had threatened the disabled and immigrant tenants with mass eviction.

But thanks to a new deal just inked, the tenants will not be leaving.

In a first for the metro, Kansas City leaders intervened after two months of resident protests to stabilize the housing of eight households, about 22 people, through an agreement with city-wide tenant union KC Tenants and the landlords, real estate company ERA Holdings.

The union referred to it as a “precedent setting” agreement when it comes to the city’s role in stopping displacement, in the May 1 announcement.

As part of the agreement, the city will subsidize the rents of tenants with $450 per month in public money — allowing each household to pay $400 monthly. Unlike other rental assistance deals, this agreement comes with strings attached for the landlord, according to KC Tenants Director Tara Raghuveer.

“This type of agreement is not something that the city has engaged in before,” she said.

The agreement, set to last for the next two years, guarantees tenants mail service, health code inspections and formal notices in their native language. Their rent will not increase and evictions are only possible under extreme circumstances. No tenant will be retaliated against for reporting a maintenance issue and late fees will not surpass $40.

Each of the eight households formerly facing eviction will instead be moved into a comparably-sized, rehabilitated unit, for which they will not have to submit a new housing application or security deposit, according to the KC Tenants release.

“Its a property that has had dozens of city code violations, property violations, healthy homes violations for years. Its been on the city’s radar for years,” Raghuveer said.

Poor conditions

The North Lawn and Scarritt Avenue property was owned by local real estate company FTW Investments until late January 2023, around the same time a fire broke out in one of the apartment units.

When firefighters arrived, they discovered rows of broken windows and doors repaired with wood planks and scraps of cardboard. Ceilings sagged, and extension cords ran from apartment to apartment.

Conditions were so dire, crews determined it would be dangerous to turn the gas back on, according to a prior Star report.

City inspectors arrived following reports of the run-down conditions

City records for the property showed seven code cases since July 2022, with complaints ranging from overflowing dumpsters to broken windows. A written complaint from October reads, “The property manager is doing NOTHING to keep the tenants safe. Two break ins, two fires within 5 days of each other and winter has not even come yet … A tenant went to court last week to press charges against a houseless man who masturbated in front of her while squatting in a vacant apartment.”

The complex also failed an inspection of the building’s structure in November.

An KC Tenant petition signed by more than 400 people lamented the business model of former owners Parker Webb and Logan Freeman of FTW Investments, and referred to them as “slumlords”.

Shortly after, the pair left the board of directors for the nonprofit reStart, which works to prevent homelessness in the metro area.

Under new ownership, ERA Holdings, and managers tasked with rehabilitating the property, Rubicon Realty, tenants learned in mid-February that their leases would not be renewed, according to Raghuveer.

By March, the tenants sent demands to the landlord, with no response. A call to action issued by KC Tenants in April led to hundreds of people texting the landlord, pressuring them to respond.

Then negotiations between the landlord, KC Tenants and the city began.

“There was a lot of back and forth about every element of the agreement,” Raghuveer said.

“Instead of throwing their hands up the city decided... to be proactive in ensuring that tenants could stay in their longtime homes.”

She explained that the deal also sets a precedent for collaboration between the union and the city on keeping vulnerable tenants from eviction. The majority of residents living at the complex are non-native English speakers, immigrants and seniors with health conditions.

Often, Raghuveer said, the union encounters “highly vulnerable” tenants facing rent hikes, leading to profits for real estate companies and displacement for community members.

“Every dollar of public resourcing that goes into a private pockets, especially the pocket of a landlord that lives in New Jersey, should come with really strong protections.”

While she believes that old norm sets the city — and tenents — up for failure; Raghuveer is hopeful this agreement haralds a new chapter for Kansas City tenants in precarious positions.

“I think the political winds are finally changing.”