![]() In those cases, Wiser LLC must notify KC Tenants and the city. “The city intervening in this way, in a way that's proactive, lays the groundwork for what we'd like to see from city policy moving forward,” Raghuveer said, “which is policy that puts people over profit, that puts people over property, that proactively and systematically ensures the stability of our communities as opposed to reacting to emergencies when they occur.”Īs part of the agreement, the landlord cannot raise the rent during the lease term and cannot evict tenants during their lease unless under extenuating circumstances. Raghuveer said the agreement sets a precedent for ways the city can get involved to protect residents like those at the North Lawn apartments. ![]() It's absolutely a model for future problem-solving.” “We didn't quite have a solution right off the bat here, but we did know that we needed to act and partner with both KC Tenants and the property owner directly to make sure that we could prevent some evictions here and keep people in their homes. “This is an example of us solving problems in creative, innovative ways,” Platt said. Kansas City Manager Brian Platt said this is the first time the city has subsidized housing in this way. Through its rental assistance program, Kansas City has agreed to subsidize the rent of the remaining eight households and pay $450 a month per family. Kansas City Council members Eric Bunch, Andrea Bough and Kevin O’Neill met with tenants and walked through the property on April 11, and gave their support to the residents.Īfter more than a month of calls with Rosenblatt, meetings with the city and rallies in support of the tenants, Rosenblatt agreed to a two-year deal that gives tenants year-to-year leases that automatically renew with a monthly, subsidized rent of $400. KCUR was unable to reach Rosenblatt for comment. KC Tenants said Rosenblatt agreed to negotiate down to $800 a month, but that was still too high for the low-income residents. More than 500 people signed a petition for Wiser LLC to allow the residents to stay in their homes without a rent increase and to fix the unlivable conditions. So anytime there is a change of address, that would also make accessing my doctor's appointments much harder.” But then there's also the fact that I rely on rides to get to my doctor's appointments. “Paying new or different rent and going through the process of paying a new deposit, it's just more complicated and more money. “Moving is just a lot harder,” Barrera said. With only Filomena’s income, the couple could not afford the $1,200 rents they were seeing elsewhere. But Barrera has been on dialysis for both of his kidneys for four years and is unable to work. KCUR 89.3 After being threatened with 30-day notices to vacate, tenants have negotiated a deal to stay in their homes at an affordable rent while their new landlord fixes up the property.Īfter the notices went out, Barrera and his wife, Filomena, who works for a hospital laundry company, tried to find a new place to live. We'll continue to live here, we won't go, and we'll stay here." We'll continue to live here like from the beginning of all this. "When this contract is up, we'll see what happens. ![]() ![]() It's a joy that we'll get to stay here thanks to all of those who supported us or who are still supporting us,” said Artemio Barrera, who’s lived in the building for eight years. The residents, who had been working with KC Tenants, fought to stay in their homes without a rent increase. Residents had the option to rent $1,000-a-month units - more than double what they were paying - which would be the market rate for the units after the extensive repairs. ![]() Instead, the New Jersey-based company owned by Eli Rosenblatt gave tenants 30-day notices that their leases wouldn’t be renewed. When the tenants found out that previous owners, Kansas City-based hedge fund FTW Investments, sold the building to Wiser KC LLC shortly after the fire, they were hopeful things would begin to change for the better. For months, residents had complained that many windows to units were broken, there were holes in tenants’ ceilings, appliances didn’t work, and cockroaches, mice and other pests plague the property. They were without heat in freezing temperatures in January after an electrical fire knocked out the building’s utilities. ![]()
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