KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Johnson County’s 10th District Court is extending its eviction mediation pilot program after seeing success last year in settling disputes between landlords and tenants.
The court launched the program as a collaboration between the Johnson County Government and Johnson County 10th District Court staff.
The goal is to decrease the number of evictions in the county and prevent people from being homeless.
There are currently three mediation programs in Kansas: Sedgwick County (Wichita), Douglas County (Lawrence) and Johnson County.
The Johnson County program features mandatory mediation, and as of Friday, $500,000 worth of COVID-19 relief funds are available for rental assistance.
"What we would hope is that if our model proved successful, that it's made available to the other 104 counties in Kansas," Johnson County Magistrate Judge John McEntee said.
Another goal, according to Judge McEntee, is to decrease the number of violent evictions, like the tragic February murder of Drexel Mack, a Jackson County civil process server.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, an average of 14,560 eviction cases were filed each year in Kansas.
In Johnson County, about 3,000 evictions are filed annually.
“It's a pretty heavy weight when you realize your decision, your signature, is taking people from housing to unhoused,” McEntee said.
Judge McEntee’s first year on the bench coincided with the suspension of federal Emergency Rental Assistance funds (KERA in Kansas), which were available to households falling behind on rent during the pandemic.
With those funds gone, McEntee said, he and those in Johnson County government knew an alternative was necessary.
“Fortunately, I was approached by commissioner Becky Fast, who’s on the Johnson County Board of Commissioners, and she wanted to know what we could do to help people facing eviction,” McEntee said. “And so that conversation very quickly led to a plan where we would start a mediation program. The mediators that would be here every week would be funded by Johnson County.”
The first phase of the pilot program was 90 days, and McEntee says from mid-September to mid-January, there were 128 cases that went through mediation.
Of those, 114 reached an agreement, with 79 of the cases ultimately dismissed.
A tenant in Kansas has approximately 28-30 days from the first time they learn about a possible eviction to when they must vacate the property.
If someone is served with an eviction notice, it may require them to come to court for an official answer docket or appearance within three days and no more than 10 days.
When a tenant contests an eviction, state law requires the court to determine within 14 days who has right to possess the property; the tenant or the landlord.
If the court determines the landlord is in possession, the sheriff will serve an eviction notice within 14 days as Kansas state law requires.
Every Friday, Judge McEntee facilitates the eviction docket at the Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe.
Tenants, landlords and their attorneys appear regarding an eviction that has been denied.
Once a tenant denies an eviction, they are automatically required to take part in mediation.
“Conflict is just inevitable, we have it in short-term relationships, long-term relationships, and sometimes it helps to have somebody from an outside perspective,” said Robin Gaona, one of the mediators for the program.
Gaona has been working with the program since its pilot phase and believes in its longevity.
“It allows the parties to be able to bring their ideas in a calm, relaxed manner,” Gaona said. “It can tug at anyone's heart. There's a human element to all of us, we all face this, but that's one of the great things about mediation, having someone to walk through the process with you.”
Ara Azad is one of those people who, like Gaona, mediates disputes.
Azad says the most rewarding part of being a mediator is the self-advocacy it allows tenants to have.
“Any time you help the community feel like they get to have a say in how they improve their own circumstances, I think that's a community that ends up being strong as a result of it,” Azad said.
One of the tenants Azad worked with Friday was Carla Zammarioni, who says America is the land of opportunity in her eyes.
“I came to this country as a child, and I've lived all over the United States,” she said as she reflected on her childhood in Italy.
Zammarioni stayed in Johnson County to raise her daughter in what she considered an “affordable” part of the country.
What she didn’t expect was for prices to rise so much.
“I worry about affording rent and affording life,” she said.
Zammarioni says she suffers from medical issues that result in her feeling dangerously drowsy after she suffered with a large bleeding ulcer.
“I received a letter saying that my lease was not going to be approved and I needed to leave the property,” she said. “I wasn't able to do so because of my medical problems.”
She says she went into Friday’s docket feeling incredibly nervous, but the outcome was far better than she expected.
She is able to turn the opportunity into a second chance.
“I feel better right now, and I hope that I can proceed with fulfilling the contract that we made,” Zammarioni said.
