KC renters won’t have housing if it’s not profitable for anyone to provide it and if policies deter investors

Stacey Johnson-Cosby is a Realtor and small local investor who  owned 21 rental units averaging $600 per month.  If tenants don’t pay rent, landlords ultimately will not be able to afford to maintain the property.  There are policies at each level of government that can negatively impact the creation of housing. Stacey has expressed concern about the Kansas City, Missouri, Healthy Homes program, the Tenant Bill of Rights and the Tenants Right to Counsel at the local level.  She says that we are also seeing the impact of the federal CDC Eviction Moratorium.

Stacey said that there were already laws in place to protect tenants from the types of abuses that the Healthy Homes program was designed to address. She says that providing “free” lawyers is ineffective and does nothing to prevent evictions and homelessness as advertised. What was the argument for and against?

We should be asking, “What are the strengths and deficiencies of existing laws regulating rental housing?”  “How can we get evidence?” “To what extent have existing laws been impacted by regulatory capture?” “If regulatory capture is involved, doesn’t that suggest that the Healthy Homes program may become ineffective in another few years, leaving only another layer of bureaucracy that increases the cost of providing rental housing (and therefore also the cost of rent)?” “What is the Tenant’s Bill of Rights?” “What is it accomplishing?” “What are its unintended consequences?” “What were the implications of the CDC Eviction Moratorium on renters, housing providers & the housing market?” “Do renter activists help renters, or hurt them?” “And, how?”  “Who is looking out for homeowners? How?” 

A representative of KC Tenants was invited to be interviewed with Ms. Johnson-Cosby and declined.

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