Experiences of local tenants prompted Lawrence city commissioners to pursue creation of a tenant bill of rights, and to explore what it would take to ensure tenants can have legal counsel.

Those discussions — among other possible actions — are still in early stages, but the first step came with a presentation to the commission Tuesday evening.

Lea Roselyn, the city’s affordable housing administrator; Christina Holt, assistant director of KU’s Center for Community Health and Development; and Vince Munoz, of Lawrence Tenants, presented results of a Lawrence and Douglas County tenant survey.

The survey is the work of LiveWell Douglas County’s Sexual Violence Prevention Work Group. The group launched the survey in 2023 to find out about tenants’ experiences with security deposits, screening and applications, maintenance, nonrenewals of leases, evictions and more.

Among some of the survey’s key findings, gathered from more than 1,000 respondents, are:

• Almost half of residents reported feeling unsafe in their rental home at some time;
• Rent increases pricing people out of their homes;
• Concerns about imbalance of power, such as renters not reporting maintenance issues because they feared retaliation;
• Hazardous conditions such as mold, foundation and plumbing issues, and pests, coupled with lack of regular inspections or code enforcement;
• Accessibility issues, such as short stock of housing without stairs, and more.

The group also presented a number of recommended policy changes. Some examples include:

• A “just cause” or “good cause” eviction ordinance, which would limit reasons a landlord can evict a tenant and would be designed to prevent arbitrary, retaliatory and discriminatory practices;
• An ordinance prohibiting “junk fees” that can show up during the application process, during and after tenancy, and during the eviction process;
• And an eviction record sealing and expungement policy, so evictions would not appear on tenants’ rental histories.

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Vice Mayor Brad Finkeldei asked presenters if they’ve looked into what the commission is able to do versus changes that are outside of its authority. As Commissioner Amber Sellers had pointed out earlier that evening, the Kansas Legislature has limited the commissioners’ options with regard to affordable housing — they can’t initiate rent control, and they can’t require developers to build affordable housing. Also, for instance, Finkeldei said he didn’t think the city would have control over eviction expungement.

Roselyn said the group had not looked into many of the recommendations in much depth prior to finding out what the commission would be interested in exploring. But she said she thinks a tenant bill of rights is the most achievable policy recommendation, and it would not necessarily come with an ongoing budget item.

The ordinance would aim to protect tenants from landlord exploitation and ensure their rights. Mayor Mike Dever suggested the city look into those laws and “maybe tweak them for our community.”

In addition, Munoz said there is a work group crafting a potential ordinance to present to the Douglas County Commission regarding tenant right to counsel. He said the group was thinking about that at the county level because evictions are handled in district court rather than municipal court, but there would be opportunities for the city to partner on that work and cost.

“If you don’t have the funds to hire a private attorney, then you’re just subject to a great deal of oppression,” Roselyn told commissioners. “Really, the landlord has all the power, and the tenants just oftentimes acquiesce because they don’t have any resources to do anything else. They need to stay housed.”

Holt said tenants are much more likely to stay housed if they receive representation.

“Kansas City implemented a right to counsel program in June of 2022, and 91.5% of tenants avoided eviction,” she said. “This is almost a complete reversal from prior to this implementation, when 99% of tenants were evicted before the program.”

Commissioners don’t take formal action during their work sessions, but they generally agreed to explore the tenant bill of rights and tenant right to counsel further. Sellers also asked the presenters to look into Healthy Homes, a rental inspection model implemented in Kansas City, Missouri, and other commissioners agreed.

Sellers said she appreciated the survey, and “the truth hurts.”

“It’s unfortunate that we have community members that are experiencing this, but I think it’s an opportunity for us to close those gaps,” she said.

Read the full survey results at this link.

Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.

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