Kansas City Tenants Union Explained

The Kansas City Tenants Union, also known as KC Tenants, is a non-profit tenant's union in Kansas City, Missouri. It was founded in 2019 by Tiana Caldwell and Tara Raghuveer.[1] [2]

Kansas City Tenants Union
Location Country:United States
Headquarters:Kansas City, Missouri
Key People:Tiana Caldwell, Diane Charity, Brandy Granados, and Tara Raghuveer (co-founders)

History

KC Tenants was founded with an annual budget of $30,000, which has grown to almost $600,000 in June 2023. The union has worked together with Mayor Quinton Lucas on housing policy,[3] notably passing a tenant's bill of rights in 2019 that included banning "discrimination against prospective tenants solely because of a prior arrest, conviction or eviction."[4] KC Tenants has clashed with landlords and the courts over specific eviction cases[5] and the COVID eviction moratorium.[6] The group has a tenants' hotline and an incident report form for renters experiencing housing issues or who have questions about renters' rights.[7] The organization pressured the city into passing a "Right to Counsel" policy, which provides free legal counseling for renters facing eviction filings.[8] [9] KC Tenants advocate for a "People's Housing Trust Fund" to build affordable housing, originally to be funded through reducing the Kansas City police department budget.[10]

The Kansas City Homeless Union formed in January 2021 with support from KC Tenants.[11] The two groups have demonstrated together for housing policy reform.[12]

KC Tenants launched its political wing in October 2022 named KC Tenants Power.[13]

KC Tenants Power

In June 2023, candidates endorsed by KC Tenants Power won four out of the thirteen Kansas City city council commissioner seats, losing two races.[14]

Founding of Tenant Union Federation

In August 2024, KC Tenants -- alongside Connecticut Tenant Union, Louisville Tenant Union, Bozeman Tenants United, and Not Me We -- founded the Tenant Union Federation.[15] [16] The federation describes its goals as: use the collective power of its locals to negotiate better living conditions for renters, slow the commodification of housing, help establish alternatives to the predominant market-based solution to housing, guarantee housing as a public utility, and create economic and political power for its renters.[17] The federations first campaign hopes to cap rent on housing managed by the federal government.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Herschander . Sara . 2023-06-21 . Foundations buoy a new movement of renters’ activism . 2023-06-30 . AP News . en.
  2. Web site: About . 2023-06-30 . kctenants.org . en-us.
  3. News: Dougherty . Conor . 2022-10-15 . The Rent Revolution Is Coming . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-07-03 . 0362-4331.
  4. Web site: Kite . Allison . 2019-12-12 . Kansas City Council passes tenant bill of rights with tweaks . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221015171304/https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article238315408.html . 2022-10-15 . 2023-07-01 . The Kansas City Star.
  5. Web site: Lukitsch . Bill . 2021-10-12 . KC renters in dispute with landlord after getting notice to vacate . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221015170959/https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article254932312.html . 2022-10-15 . 2023-07-01 . The Kansas City Star.
  6. Web site: Kite . Allison . 2021-01-07 . KC Tenants blocks court, vows to keep disrupting evictions . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221015171352/https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article248326305.html . 2022-10-15 . 2023-07-01 . The Kansas City Star.
  7. Web site: KC Tenants COVID-19 Response . 2023-07-03 . kctenants.org . en-us.
  8. Web site: Webster . Betsy . 2023-06-21 . KC Tenants leader wins council seat . 2023-07-03 . . en.
  9. Web site: Right to Legal Counsel for Kansas City tenants facing eviction to start June 1 . 2023-07-03 . City of Kansas City, MO . en.
  10. Web site: Morris . Frank . 2021-06-28 . KC Tenants Proposes $30 Million Affordable Housing Trust Fund, With Money Diverted From Police Budget . 2023-07-03 . . en.
  11. Web site: KCHU . 2023-07-01 . kchomelessunion.org.
  12. Web site: Toyoshiba . Jill . 2021-07-18 . Homeless union and KC Tenants demonstrate together after city posts notice to vacate The Kansas City Star . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210718122117/https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article250383296.html . 2021-07-18 . 2023-07-01 . The Kansas City Star.
  13. Web site: Mansaray . Mili . 2022-10-14 . KC Tenants announces sister organization focused on building political power . 2023-06-30 . . en-US.
  14. Web site: Webster . Betsy . 2023-06-21 . KC Tenants leader wins council seat . 2023-06-30 . . en.
  15. Web site: Hood . Nydja . 2024-08-08 . KC Tenants join movement to organize nationally, fight against rising rent rates . 2024-08-09 . . en.
  16. Web site: Perez . Zach . 2024-08-08 . Building on success in Kansas City, KC Tenants helps form first-ever national tenant federation . 2024-08-09 . . en.
  17. Web site: About . 2024-08-09 . Tenant Union Federation website . en.

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