File #: 211067    Version: Name:
Type: Ordinance Status: Passed
File created: 12/1/2021 In control: Council
On agenda: 12/9/2021 Final action: 12/9/2021
Title: Amending Chapter 35, Code of Ordinance, entitled "Housing" by creating a new Article III, entitled "Tenants' Right to Counsel, " consisting of Sections 35-20-through 35-25; directing the City Manager to identify funding for the Tenant's Right to Counsel Program ("the Program") within 90 days; and directing the City Manager to implement various portions of the Program with varying deadlines, with the goal of increasing tenant access to legal representation in eviction and other proceedings related to rental housing.
Sponsors: Andrea Bough, Katheryn Shields, Melissa Robinson, Eric Bunch, Ryana Parks-Shaw
Attachments: 1. No Fact Sheet, 2. FiscalNote_211067, 3. Letter in Support of Ordinance # 211067, 4. Geoff Jolley 211067 12.8.2021, 5. 211067 cs to org ord-com, 6. FW_ Ordinance 211067 Tenants Right to Counsel, 7. FW_ SAY YES TO RIGHT TO COUNSEL, 8. FW_ Vote YES on the Right to Counsel Ordinance Erin Bradley, 9. Jake Mobley FW_ Right to counsel, 10. Mark Ronning FW_ Pass Ordinance 211067 Tenants’ Right to Counsel Today, 11. Dylan Pyles FW_ Pass Ordinance 211067 Today, 12. Mary Allison FW_ Pass Ordinance 211067 Tenants’ Right to Counsel Today, 13. Melissa Ferrer Civil FW_ Urgent matter of life, death, hope or hopelessness., 14. Tiana Caldwell FW_ Please SupportRight to Counsel!, 15. Gabe Coppage FW_ Please pass ordinance 211067, 16. Spencer Thut FW_ Pass Ordinance 211067 TODAY!, 17. Sierra West FW_ Vote YES on Ordinance 211067 Tenants' Right to Counsel, 18. Wilson Vance RE_ SAY YES TO RIGHT TO COUNSEL, 19. Wilson Vance FW_ SAY YES TO RIGHT TO COUNSEL, 20. Robert Long Fwd_ Re_ Ordinance 211067 Tenants Right to Counsel, 21. Authenticated Ordinance 211067 C.S
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR ORDINANCE NO. 211067

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Amending Chapter 35, Code of Ordinance, entitled "Housing" by creating a new Article III, entitled "Tenants' Right to Counsel, " consisting of Sections 35-20-through 35-25; directing the City Manager to identify funding for the Tenant's Right to Counsel Program ("the Program") within 90 days; and directing the City Manager to implement various portions of the Program with varying deadlines, with the goal of increasing tenant access to legal representation in eviction and other proceedings related to rental housing.

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WHEREAS, 37,259 evictions have been filed in the state of Missouri since March 15, 2020, despite a national eviction moratorium ordered by the Center for Disease Control during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

WHEREAS, over 2,810 evictions have been filed in Jackson County during the year 2021 alone, with 44% of all renters considered "cost-burdened," which means they spend more than 30% of their income on rent, and approximately 1800 evictions have been filed in Clay, Platte and Cass Counties; and

WHEREAS, 94,000 households in Missouri are behind on rent as of early August 2021 and tenants are at risk of losing their homes; and

WHEREAS, between 2006-2016, 76,667 cases were adjudicated in Jackson County, and only 161 were decided in favor of the tenant. 99.8% of those cases resulted in evictions; and

WHEREAS, property owners are represented by legal counsel over 85% of the time and, since 2014, KCMO tenants facing eviction filings have been represented an average of only 3% of the time; and

WHEREAS, when tenants are represented by lawyers, they have much more favorable odds of staying in their home;

WHEREAS, local legal service providers began representing larger numbers of tenants in 2020 and have succeeded in stopping the vast majority of evictions filed against their clients through the assertion of legal defense...

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