KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City's housing committee voted to hold off on a tenant’s bill of rights for another week.
It comes after nearly four hours of testimony — at times emotional — on the need for this piece of legislation.
"How can a student thrive when they are moving from school to school to school in just one academic year," Kathleen Pointer, a KCPS senior communications and political strategist, said.
The bill would create sweeping changes for tenant rights including providing legal support for tenants.
The few landlords who spoke Wednesday were worried they wouldn't be able to screen a tenant's previous rental history, but agreed:
"These landlords that are housing these tenants in substandard conditions, they don’t need second chances,” Stacey Johnson-Cosby, a realtor and landlord, said. “We don’t need to pacify them we need to put them out of business.”
Supporters of the bill, including Mayor Quinton Lucas, are optimistic about its next steps.
"There was no actual opposition to what is in the tenant bill of rights itself,” Lucas said, “and so I see no reason why that shouldn’t be able to pass next week out of committee. We’ll make sure we conduct our due diligence. I think that’s always important.”
