KC renters in tenant union enter a second month of strike against landlords

Photo by Paige Eichkorn

“NOT ONE CENT FOR THE SLUM LORDS!”

“DON’T PAY RENT!”

Tenants at Independence and Quality Hill Towers led chants and marched outside their buildings on Friday in protest of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s redaction of their offer for a bargaining meeting with Director Sandra Thompson in Washington, DC.

This came after leaders of the Tenant Union Federation shared their terms for ending their rent strike. Instead, they received an offer for a one hour meeting in Kansas City on Nov. 8 without Director Thompson present.

Renters began their strike on Oct. 1 after months, if not years, of facing unlivable conditions including flooding, dirty water, heat and cooling outages, holes in their ceilings and walls, roach and mice infestations and sewage backup.

In the last eight months, Independence Towers residents have also experienced three water shutoffs.

Housing justice organization KC Tenants formed unions at both buildings earlier this year, with members withholding a collective $125,000 in rent as of Nov. 1.

“FHFA Director Sandra Thompson has thus far refused to bargain with the tenants on strike against impossible rents and deadly, undignified conditions in properties financed with loans that Director Thompson is meant to regulate,” the organization said in a statement Friday.

The bargaining teams representing the unions chose to accept the meeting with FHFA staff if they agreed to confirm participants by Nov. 1, answer questions about the landlords’ financials by Nov. 4 and spend a night at the properties during the visit.

Union members clarified that since this engagement will not include Director Thompson, it does not constitute bargaining and the rent strike will continue.

Photo by Paige Eichkorn

Anna Heetmann, an organizer with KC Tenants, said Trigild, the Independence Towers property manager, hired armed security without informing tenants and union members were subject to intimidation. 

Efforts to spread the word to residents about the union have been set back by guards removing door hangers and flyers posted around the building.

“As of yesterday, hot water has finally been restored to the building,” Heetmann said. “We know that this would not have happened without the pressure from our rent strike, even though the boiler was literally disintegrating when it was removed.”

On Oct. 25, Fannie Mae, the mortgage financier for the two complexes, authorized a $1.35 million payout to Trigild for necessary repairs.

“To be clear, it’s not enough,” Heetmann said. “This is a one-time bailout for repairs that needed to happen years ago. Our strike will continue, this is the leverage that we have to keep the FHFA and Fannie Mae from escaping accountability. This isn’t over until Director Thompson bargains in good faith with tenants about what will happen to our homes.”

New ownership for both buildings, bargained leases and a 3% cap on rent increases on a nationwide scale are among the tenant unions’ demands.

Chris Carlton, a tenant at Independence Towers, said his bathtub takes a full day to drain after taking a shower.

“I have roaches everywhere, especially at night, and I have a kitchen with no drawers,” he said. “I was told it was going to get drawers within a week when I first moved in, and that was a year ago today.”

Trigild informed Carlton and his neighbors a month ago that they had put $400,000 into building repairs, but Carlton said the only change he saw was new carpet in the hallways and a “half-assed extermination that only took zeros off the number of roaches.”

“To the people who think that we should just move out, well, that might help me, that might help us, that doesn’t help anyone who’s gonna move in after we leave,” he added. “Somebody’s gotta stand for the conditions now. Otherwise, it’s just gonna continue on.”

Lisa Sanchez, a renter at Quality Hill Towers, spoke at the march about her experience upon her move in day last summer.

“Our bathtub was backed up with standing water, we had to use our own personal shop vac to remove the water every single time we need to take a shower,” she said.

The roach infestation “makes my skin crawl,” she added. “They’re in the medicine cabinet, in the bedrooms, in the hallways—it’s disgusting.”

Sanchez said it was her son’s birthday that night, but she was too ashamed to invite him over to make him dinner because of the conditions at her apartment.

Photo by Paige Eichkorn

“I’ve been having seizures every freaking month since I’ve been back here because of my anxiety and stress,” she said. “When I found out our neighbors organized the union, we rejoined immediately. It felt so good to know that I wasn’t alone and that none of this was my fault.”

Audrey Williams also spoke in front of Quality Hill Towers, recounting her experience over the last seven years of living there. 

“I’ve gone entire winters without heat,” Williams said. “I’ve had a bathtub backed up with actual shit. I disposed of dead mouse after dead mouse after dead mouse. I’ve gone without hot water in my kitchen to the point I use disposable plates and an air fryer to cook my meals. Washington, where are you?”

Sentinel, the landlord of Quality Hill Towers, is “useless” she added.

“They got a $9 million mortgage backed by our public money, then they let this place run itself into the ground,” Williams said. “They shouldn’t be in business, and we’re demanding that FHFA Director Sandra Thompson foreclose on Sentinel and bring in a new landlord who will bargain with the union.”

Sentinel said in a statement that its “dedicated to ensuring Quality Hill Towers remains a comfortable and affordable home for all residents.” The property manager also reported that it has invested over $2 million in improvements in the last year including upgrades to common areas, elevator repairs, installation of water heaters, replacement of an HVAC boiler and landscaping.

Johnathan Duncan, representative of the sixth district on Kansas City city council, showed up at the march in support of the rent strike.

“My question is, Washington, Director Thompson, why won’t you show up?” Duncan asked. “You have a responsibility to these tenants. This is our tax dollars that are backing these units. These units are a testament to what our tax dollars and your agency regulates, and what the testament shows is that we are funding cockroaches, that we are funding sewage in people’s homes, that we are funding squalid conditions, and we expect Washington to show up to do what, to tell these people about their own lives? Give me a break.”

Heetmann recalled when a three year old fell out of a broken window from the eighth floor of Independence Towers and died in July.

“[He] died because of the negligence of these people, and they couldn’t even give us a response to that,” she said. “They just would rather hide and at this point, I think it’s because they know that they have nowhere to go.”

Photo by Paige Eichkorn

The parents of the child had made multiple maintenance requests, according to Heetmann, and it was a hot day with no central air for tenants. 

“We, at that point, had portable ACs that jacked up our electricity prices two to three times, if not more than that,” Heetmann said. “And the parents are the ones being charged with felonies because of this. There’s no accountability on the part of the property.”

Law Sims, a first-time renter at Quality Hill, expressed his frustration with the condition of his apartment upon moving in.

“I have neighbors who have holes in their walls and can see into each other’s bathroom,” Sims said. “I had a hole in my ceiling that I didn’t know about because they just put panels over it and painted it white. Water was raining down in my bathroom. All they care about is PR. All they care about is looking good. They care about the building looking good, and they don’t care about the tenants.”

Grace White, an organizer with the Tenant Union Federation, met with tenants after the march to gather ideas for the next protest and prepare for the FHFA staff visit next Friday.

“I’m really deeply committed to this work, because I don’t want my tax money going to properties where my neighbors have to live like this,” she said. “I also want to know that I can afford a safe home.”