Kansas City, Missouri will have another tool to help clean up blighted neighborhoods and hold negligent property owners accountable.
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens signed Senate Bill 111 into law Tuesday afternoon. It includes a provision that Missouri Rep. Jack Bondon and city officials have pushed for three years that specifically targets LLCs.
The law now requires property owners to register the name and number of a real person with the city clerk, which will help the city get a hold of them quicker when there are issues and violations. The city will now be able to take the owners to court if they don't. The LLCs have 30 days to file paperwork before a transfer of ownership takes place.
Karen Slaughter clapped when she heard the bill finally went through.
She and her husband, Leon, are tired of watching the once-beautiful homes around them crumble because of absent LLCs. The trees on the abandoned property next door are so overgrown it damaged their roof, and they're stuck with the bill.
They've lived in the neighborhood at 27th & Olive for 50 years, and say it's sad to see it come to this.
"It was once a village. A true village." Karen remembers when neighbors sat out on the porch chatting in the afternoons, kids playing football in the streets, the homes maintained with pride.
The house across the street is one of the worst in the city. The weeds are taller than a person. The doors are boarded up, but the Slaughters see squatters go in and out at all hours.
"If we finally know who is behind this property and who has responsibility for it, we will force them to sell or force them to fix it up," Assistant City Manager John Wood said.
According to city officials, LLCs own most of the city's abandoned houses, and they've ignored 3,300 of them. Many LLCs are out of town or even out of the country, making city inspectors run in circles trying to get a hold of someone. Notices come back in the mail. Because the city has no jurisdiction, they essentially can't do anything, and the houses get worse.
"You start watching the paper chase going from LLC to another LLC. By the time the city files paperwork on the house, it's changed hands again so all you can do is watch," Karen explained. "You don't understand the impact until you've actually had to live next-door to one."
For instance, the last known owners of the house next to the Slaughters are from Australia.
"They came. They didn't bring a flashlight or screwdriver, so they had no access. We loaned them both. They went inside and we have not seen them since," Karen said. "They don't care."
"It drives property values down, it discourages people from wanting to live in the urban core," Wood said.
He expects the city to start issuing notices to LLCs and seeing the first steps in action within 90 days. It's not an overnight fix, but still a victory, he says.
"I think within two to three years you'll see a change. You'll see a change if we stick with it," Wood said.
The city is already in the midst of a $10 million initiative to use community programs to rehab or sell abandoned houses to responsible owners.
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