Kansas City eviction filings near pre-pandemic levels. Will Tenants’ Right to Counsel help?
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Kansas City’s Right to Counsel program
KC’s Right to Counsel program guarantees a tenant has legal representation when a landlord sues for eviction. It was passed by City Council in December 2022.
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Starting this month, renters in Kansas City will have access to a free lawyer if they are facing eviction as part of the Tenants’ Right to Counsel program.
If the program works in Kansas City the way it has in other cities, it could reduce the number of evictions significantly. In the first two years of a similar program in New York City, the total number evictions fell 20% in the neighborhoods included in the program, and 85% percent of tenants who got free attorneys were able to ward off evictions.
While proponents hope Tenants’ Right to Counsel will eventually decrease the number of evictions in Kansas City, data from this spring shows that as the program starts, eviction filings in the city are nearing pre-pandemic levels.
Data from Eviction Lab for Kansas City shows that the 28-day average for eviction filings in the first week of May was 147, more than double the average monthly eviction filings for the first week of May last year, and more than three times the average monthly filings for the first week of May in 2020. In January 2020 before the pandemic, the average monthly eviction filings was 172.
“Things are definitely back up to pre-pandemic levels for evictions,” said Michelle Albano, a housing attorney with Legal Aid of Western Missouri. “The eviction moratorium was of course super beneficial to tenants for that time that it was deemed lawful, but now that the moratorium is gone… they’re definitely back up.”
You can hover over each vertical bar to see the actual weekly eviction count and the 28-day average each week over the past two and a half years.
What difference could Tenants’ Right to Counsel make?
Albano added that while eviction filings are rising, the number of actual evictions is not increasing as rapidly. She credits this trend to increased rental assistance funding during the pandemic as well as a boom in legal representation provided by various nonprofit groups, something she hopes will continue with the implementation of Tenants’ Right to Counsel.
“I would definitely say the number of people who are getting physically removed from their homes against their wishes is going down, because we’re able to get resolution one way or another in a lot of the evictions that we represent in,” Albano told The Star. “We’re able to assist more people because there’s simply more funding in place to employ attorneys to represent people.”
The new Tenants’ Right to Counsel program aims to sustain that kind of legal protection that Albano said was able to expand during the pandemic.
In a statement, Mayor Quinton Lucas confirmed that the program is funded, has contracts in place with local nonprofit legal service providers and is ready to start on June 1, despite the city missing prior deadlines to get things in place.
“This is another important step in our work to protect renters and help folks stay in their homes,” Lucas said in the statement.
City manager Brian Platt credited the citywide tenant union KC Tenants for its work pushing the city to create the Tenants’ Right to Counsel program.
“Thank you to leaders at KC Tenants for identifying a serious unmet need in our city and for shining light on one of the biggest challenges and traumatic events our residents face: evictions,” said City Manager Brian Platt. “This is just one step of many we will take to better support those with housing insecurity in Kansas City.”
What to know if you are at risk of eviction
Three legal aid groups currently serve renters in Kansas City: The Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom, Legal Aid of Western Missouri, and the Tenant Representation Initiative at UMKC Law School.
Those three groups are also contracted by the city to now provide free attorneys for anyone facing eviction in Kansas City as part of the Tenants’ Right to Counsel program.
You can call 816-474-5112 to get help from the city if you’re facing eviction.
One last thing, a notice to vacate is not the same thing as an eviction notice. If your landlord has issued a notice to vacate, here’s what to know.
Do you have more questions about tenants’ rights in Kansas City? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
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