Independence changes apartment inspection standards after scrutiny over unsafe building
Independence is expanding its apartment inspection program, called Rental Ready, after buildings that had passed city inspections under the old guidelines gained publicity for substandard and dangerous living conditions.
On Jan. 21, the Independence City Council passed an ordinance that adds more requirements buildings will need to meet in order to pass inspection, as well as mechanisms that make it easier for tenants to report problems in their building.
Members of the Eastern Jackson County Tenant Union — affiliated with the citywide union KC Tenants — helped draft the ordinance. The reform comes after tenants in an apartment complex called Independence Towers on 728 N Jennings Rd, have protested abysmal conditions in their buildings that passed previous city inspections with flying colors, citing pest infestations, chronic plumbing problems and lack of hot water and air conditioning.
The Rental Ready Program, enacted in Independence in June 2017, was created to ensure minimum standards for the interior of residential buildings, according to the program’s website. Buildings are inspected every two years.
“Organizing to strengthen Rental Ready has been the next logical step to ensure safe, secure housing for myself and other tenants within the City of Independence,” said Chris Carlton, a leader in the Eastern Jackson County Tenant Union and Independence Towers in a statement.
In a news release, KC Tenants said the policy will help improve the rental standards for nearly 50,000 tenants across Independence.
“The main thing this shows is that when tenants organize, tenants can win, not just to hold their landlords accountable, but to pass policies that improve the lives of tenants across the entire region,” said Justin Stein, KC Tenant organizer.
New inspection rules
Ordinance 25-004 — effective May 1 — raises the standards that rental units have to pass for inspection, including window stop protections, a working HVAC system and hot water. It also created an online portal for tenants to file formal complaints with the city and banned owners from retaliating against tenants for filing complaints.
The ordinance also mandated units have working smoke alarms, smoke detectors, plumbing and appliances in each unit. Visible evidence of water leaks on the roof, windows and exterior doors are not allowed, and neither are holes and missing drywall, according to the ordinance.
The number of units that will need to be inspected in an apartment building rose from 10% to 50%. Buildings will need to be inspected every two years or at the change of a tenant, whichever comes later. No building can go past four years without inspection, according to the ordinance.
All properties will have to comply with the new policy before getting their licenses issued or renewed, no one will be grandfathered in, according to Rebecca Gannon, spokesperson for the City of Independence. Buildings found non-compliant will not be issued a business license or will be given a ticket.
Gannon said expanding the original 9-point checklist for Rental Ready inspections to 16 points is a meaningful step in making Independence a better and safer place to live.
“The City has been methodical but intentional in this process - and we’re proud of the result. We have made significant progress while involving stakeholders from all sides: landlords, tenants, inspectors, residents, and city staff,” she said in a statement.
A troubled history at Independence Towers
In the spring, Independence Towers residents protested against management company FTW Investments, which oversaw the apartments at the time. FTW and co-founder Parker Webb were ousted in May by order of a Jackson County judge for violating their loan agreement, and a new company, Trigild, Inc., was appointed by the court to manage the troubled property.
Then, tragedy struck. In June, Destiny R. Kley, 22, allegedly confessed to setting an arson fire in her kitchen, displacing 27 residents across three floors of the building.
Six weeks later, a 3-year-old Tidus Bass was found lying on the grass outside the building, unconscious but breathing, and was rushed to a hospital where he later died. He had fallen from an unsecured window on the eighth floor, authorities said.
The boy’s father, Moses Bass, and his girlfriend, Destiny Lee Randle, face charges of felony child endangerment in the case, but allege they’d been asking the building management to fix the broken window for a year.
Troubles persist with court-appointed management company, Trigild, Inc., at the helm, which tenants say refuses to engage in conversations over the sale of the building or a new collectively bargained lease agreement. In December, tenants were denied from joining a lawsuit against the property owner.
A faulty rental ready program
Despite the litany of documented issues in the building, Independence Towers passed each aspect of their inspection in Dec. 2023, prompting the calls for changes to the program.
The inspection assessed nine basic aspects of the building, including functioning smoke detectors, secure handrails, a visible street address, exposed electrical wires, a functional drainage system, at least one carbon monoxide detector per unit, an exit, a circuit breaker within six feet of water sources and functioning furnaces and water heaters.
However, many tenants didn’t have a functioning HVAC system — they relied on window units to cool their apartments. Some have lived with exposed wiring and drainage issues in their apartments. And when the fire happened, tenants recalled someone having to scream because the alarms didn’t work. Trigild has said the fire alarm system has since been fixed, according to Justin Stein with KC Tenants.
The building also passed inspection despite the city labeling two units as “unsafe to occupy” since Jan. 1, 2023 because of holes in walls and ceilings, according to the city of Independence. No permits have been submitted to fix the issues, according to the city, and no formal complaints for Independence Towers have been filed.
On Sept. 3, U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, Missouri’s fifth district representative, visited Independence Towers, seeing firsthand the broken, damaged, fire-scarred conditions tenants there call home. He listened to tenants talk about their steep energy bills caused by their window units, as well as their plumbing problems.
“Some of it is worse than your words, I don’t know how I’m going to describe it to people, “ Cleaver said at the time.
Stein said tenants continue to ask for permanent repairs in the building, a collectively bargained lease agreement and for Trigild to sell the building to a more responsible owner.
Next steps on enforcement and notifying landlords
According to KC Tenants’ release, the city has committed to working with the tenant union on reforms in the future regarding inspections and enforcement.
Right now, the inspection process is done through a private system, but Stein said the union will continue pushing the city to move the inspection process in-house to make it a city function, which would create opportunities for more direct accountability.
Gannon said that all units up for inspection on or after May 1 will have to comply with the newly expanded requirements. The city is getting the word out through KC Tenants, the Eastern Jackson County Landlord association, social media, their website and through email.
“We’re also targeting the landlords,” Gannon said. “We send them a letter when their properties are up for renewal, which is 30 days out, and we’ll also tell them about the new, more robust Rental Ready Policy then.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
