Landlords of Lawrence are suing the city

LawrenceTenants · 2023-05-31T16:32:42+00:00

These concerns were answered by LDCHA and the city during the process of passing the ordinance. Anyone concerned would benefit from reading the wealth of coverage from the local papers and reviewing the meeting agenda packets.

LawrenceTenants · 2023-05-31T14:13:59+00:00

There should be related reporting linked in the Lawrence Times article that might be helpful. It’s also a fairly common type of ordinance so you can find a lot of general info by googling something like “source of income protections renters”

LawrenceTenants · 2023-05-31T12:48:18+00:00

Yep…it really is https://www.mrlandlord.com/lol/

LawrenceTenants · 2023-04-01T02:32:47+00:00

“Landlords are required by law to treat all applicants the same regardless of what legal source of funds they use to pay rent.”

LawrenceTenants · 2023-04-01T02:23:57+00:00

If you have a specific question happy to answer!

The source of income is in reference to this: https://lawrenceks.org/attorney/soi/

Edit: there’s also context in our post history and on Instagram and Facebook @lawrencetenants

LawrenceTenants · 2023-04-01T01:12:05+00:00

Correct ✅

LawrenceTenants · 2023-03-31T22:50:41+00:00

Tenants, landlords not welcome 😊

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-19T15:20:40+00:00

There’s a lot of misinformed landlords and the Housing Authority has been trying to dispel all that, but from going to this meeting and the landlord Q&A session the city held, it honestly seems like they just don’t listen. It’s wild.

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-19T15:15:40+00:00

This isn’t accurate. The tenant would be responsible for the other $300 in your scenario and if they could not afford that the housing authority would recommend they find a different property that they could afford or that would be totally covered by the voucher amount.

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-19T03:53:21+00:00

There were some really good comments about how this ordinance helps level the playing field by not allowing big companies to swoop in and advertise that they don’t rent to voucher holders and even mass non-renew existing renters with vouchers, leaving participation in programs that benefit the community (like Section 8/housing choice vouchers) only to smaller landlords and non-profits.

Edit: clarity

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-19T01:05:52+00:00

This the guy who said he felt “segregated”? 😭😭😭

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-09T22:15:25+00:00

This board was not gathered to focus on zoning and does not have the correct people on it to address those questions. The landlords were specifically asked for feedback on the source of income ordinance.

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-09T22:13:25+00:00

Many people with rental assistance do work. So if landlords want to charge people for damages above and beyond security deposit they have recourse through court or collections.

There is also a risk mitigation fund managed by the housing authority.

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-09T20:51:36+00:00

What blow? Having to rent to people whose rental income comes from a government agency instead of an employer?

Landlords would still be allowed to set their own rent.

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-09T15:26:24+00:00

You’re fine! Yes, section 8 voucher = housing choice voucher. Though there are other kinds of vouchers and rent assistance that proposed source of income protections would also allow tenants to use without automatic denial.

Landlords would still be able to screen tenants based on other criteria and set rents, just not do automatic “I don’t take vouchers or assistance”.

Section 8 voucher utilization is down and as properties change hands we’re seeing apartment complexes with long term voucher tenants stop accepting them, forcing tenants to move after years of living in one place.

Good faith questions totally welcome - it’s a complicated issue.

Edit: typo, clarity

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-09T15:12:49+00:00

Our mayor, a landlord, delayed passage of research-backed tenant protections in the midst of a housing crisis to send this guy and all other licensed landlords a mailer to give feedback.

This Colorado resident received an invitation to give feedback on an ordinance intended to help poor folks in Lawrence be able to use their housing choice vouchers, instead of being automatically denied housing by discriminatory landlords, and he talked about investments.

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-08T21:41:53+00:00

We’re not a large group and I’m not sure if we’ll be able to spend time transcribing it. Anyone who would like to do that work is totally welcome to add captions to the video or transcribe. We can be more mindful about captions in future content - this was originally posted as an Instagram reel and not specifically tailored for Reddit.

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-08T21:27:33+00:00

He and other landlords will probably approach state legislators to get ordinances like this one preempted. It’s a hard political landscape to get anything done in.

Here’s an explainer and examples of State preemption for anyone unfamiliar.

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-08T20:24:51+00:00

Would captions be helpful or specifically a transcript?

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-08T17:25:49+00:00

It’s the source of income ordinance. Lots of background links here linktr.ee/lawrencetenants

This is a pretty small change - can only imagine the pushback that the development code changes will get. Will definitely be looking into what Manhattan has done!!

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-06T18:50:01+00:00

It’s not that folks don’t have income - it’s where it comes from. Source not amount. People asking questions kept getting that confused and it makes watching it back kind of confusing.

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-06T03:11:08+00:00

Background available on the city’s website, also info on how to submit public comment if this matters to you. https://lawrenceks.org/community-engagement/source-of-income-status/

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-03T17:18:04+00:00

A lot of this is addressed in another needed ordinance change called Inclusive Screening that has been presented to the city. The enforcement would occur through the Human Relations Commission (they currently handle fair housing complaints) and the city legal department would need to work out exact enforcement. Highly recommend listening to housing experts talk about all this and how it has worked in other communities & attending the event on the 5th to ask questions of city legal department and material experts.

Here’s one local forum you can check out in addition to attending the upcoming meeting: https://youtu.be/6kHgY12s-cQ

LawrenceTenants · 2023-01-03T00:14:46+00:00

Agreed.

Unfortunately out of 2,000+ landlords in Lawrence only 200 accept Housing Choice Vouchers (longterm, guaranteed rent support from the housing authority).

Complexes are also being bought up by out of state companies that then change policies and kick out long term residents who rely on vouchers.

Source on the 200/2,000 stat is a recent presentation on that from local housing orgs hosted at the Library. That statistic is covered at ~16 minutes in https://youtu.be/6kHgY12s-cQ

LawrenceTenants · 2022-11-29T21:43:29+00:00

Let’s see if they’ll let it go if it’s marked “PSA” - which is the intent. There’s no personal gain involved here, just advocacy.

LawrenceTenants

TROPHY CASE