Tenants at Kansas City’s Quality Hill Towers pause rent strike. What’s next for them?
One of two tenant unions staging a rent strike in the Kansas City area has announced it will take a pause and pay December rent, KC Tenants said in a news release.
The Quality Hill Towers Tenant Union was halting its 64-day strike as a sign of commitment to reaching an agreement with the landlord, Sentinel Real Estate Corp, KC Tenants said.
Meanwhile, KC tenants said the Independence Towers Tenant Union announced it would continue its rent strike, marking the start of the union’s third month on strike.
The unions, organized earlier this year, initiated the strikes after failed attempts to negotiate with building owners to fix poor living conditions. Their demands include collectively bargained leases, new ownership and rent caps.
Organizers say the rent strikes are the longest-running in the region’s history. In October and November, the unions withheld more than $125,000 in rent from their landlords.
Rent strike at Quality Hill
“Over the last two months Sentinel has made building-wide and in-unit repairs,” the Quality Hill Tenants Union said in a statement. “Our neighbors will survive the winter with heat. We can cook in our homes. We can drink our water. None of this would have happened without union, and none of this would have happened without our strike.”
The union claims that Sentinel had resorted to intimidation and retaliation during the strike. The union said 70% of the 232 occupied units are included in the union and 28% of the property was participating in the strike.
“We flexed our power and we got results,” the union said. “Now, as a demonstration of our commitment to reaching an agreement, we plan to pay December rent. If Sentinel fails to meet our expectations, we will have no choice but to resume the strike.”
The strike was across three buildings at 817, 905 and 929 on Jefferson Street.
In a statement released Thursday, Sentinel said it categorically disagrees with “false narrative” the union has portrayed about the company, its commitment to Quality Hill Towers and its residents.
The company said it met in person with the union in 2023 and discussed plans for repairs this year, which will total $2 million. The company took into account the union’s concerns about the need for more pest control, and bolstered the depth and frequency of those efforts.
Assertions by the union that it was responsible for property maintenance and repairs the company made this year are “patently false,” Sentinel said. Most of the big-ticket items completed this year were scheduled maintenance and replacement of building infrastructure as well as addressing issues that came up, Sentinel contends.
Sentinel contends the rent strike has not received widespread support among residents, noting that 82% were in good standing as of Nov. 30.
Staff, vendors and current and prospective tenants reported feeling intimidated and harassed by “increasingly aggressive tactics undertaken by some members of the union,” Sentinel said in the statement. Additional on-site security has been hired for their protection. There has also been a rise in vandalism.
“A vocal minority appears to be creating a hostile living and work environment for everyone else, which we believe is a demonstration of bad faith,” the company said.
The pause in the rent strike will not alter the company’s usual process of pursuing legally permissible actions, like non-renewal of leases and eviction, against tenants who are behind on rent and in violation of their lease agreements, Sentinel said.
Rent strike in Independence continues
The Independence Towers Tenant Union, which includes 68% of the 63 occupied units and 57% of the tenants, has entered its third month on strike.
In October, federal mortgage organization Fannie Mae issued a $1.35 million to Trigild Inc., the court-appointed receiver of Independence Towers for long-needed repairs at the building at 728 N. Jennings Road in Independence. The union decried the disbursement as a “major victory for the union” and a “one-off bailout.”
The union on Tuesday night called for transparency in how the money is spent and demanded that Fannie Mae require future owners to negotiate collectively bargained lease agreements with the union as a condition of the sale of the building.
The union is trying to intervene in the receivership case between Fannie Mae and the building’s owner, 728 N Jennings RD. A Parker Webb company, FTW Investments had been managing the building. A hearing on the motion to intervene is set for Dec. 17.
“Our rent is our power, and our community is our power,” said Anna Heetman, a union leader. “We’re prepared to withhold our rent until our voices are heard.”
This story was updated to add a statement from Sentinel Real Estate Corp.
This story was originally published December 4, 2024 at 2:11 PM.
