KC Tenants is a grassroots, tenant run organization that fights for tenant rights in Kansas City. KC Tenants is working to keep landlords in check and ensuring that they are providing tenants with a safe, humane, and healthy living environment. Currently, KC Tenants has been directing their attention towards large out of city companies that own and manage apartment complexes from afar. Last year the group wrote a tenant bill of rights and a resolution putting their bill of rights in place passed in December 2019 alongside an ordinance that Jared Brey summed up well in his piece for Next City: 

   “The resolution is accompanied by an ordinance that implements new tenant protections, including: 

• Prohibits landlords from refusing a tenant solely on the basis of past evictions, race, gender identity, and other non-discrimination rules,
  
• Prevents landlords from entering an apartment without giving the tenant at least 24 hours notice of when and with whom they plan to enter,
  
• Requires landlords to provide prospective tenants with information about utility providers and past utility usage so that tenants can get an estimate of utility costs, 
  
• Requires that landlords tell tenants about any deficiencies or property citations issued in the previous two years, 
  
• Creates a Rental Housing Assistance Unit to keep tenants apprised of rights, and in some cases to offer relocation assistance to low-income tenants in emergencies, 
  
• Prohibits retaliation against tenants who report violations, 
  
• And affirms tenants’ right to organize and form tenants’ associations.”
  

I’m continuing my coverage of KC Tenants and will be conducting interviews with tenants and spending time documenting life in their homes.