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Springfield Tenants Unite on March 6 rallies for renter protections on the steps of City Hall.
Photo provided by Springfield Tenants Unite
Springfield Tenants Unite on March 6 rallies for renter protections on the steps of City Hall.

Group campaigns for tenants' bill of rights

Springfield Tenants Unite calls for City Council to take action establishing renter protections

Posted online

Springfield tenants came together March 6 on the steps of City Hall to kick off a campaign to establish a tenants’ bill of rights in the city.

Victoria Altic, director of Springfield Tenants Unite, said the group was created as the COVID-19 pandemic began – prompted by layoffs and reduced work hours, lower income and eventually delays paying rent.

“We were dealing with a situation where people started falling behind on their payments and racking up all these extra late payments. People started getting evicted and this wasn’t really something people could help,” Altic said. “We felt there weren’t really any safety nets in place for people like us, and the pandemic had really lifted a veil on how close to an eviction that many of us are at.”

Renters represent a majority of city residents, according to recent reports.

In 2018, only 44% of homes in Springfield were owner-occupied, lower than the national average of 64%, according to U.S. Census data compiled on DataUSA.com. Also utilizing Census data, Rent Cafe reported 59% of Springfield residents were renters in 2019.

Protections were put in place to stop evictions during the pandemic. On Sept. 1, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order to temporarily halt residential evictions caused by substantial loss of income. It was most recently extended through March 31. No statewide eviction moratorium has been issued in Missouri, according to the National Apartment Association.

Altic said the movement was spurred by the fear of evictions during COVID-19 but grew to include more issues relating to renting and affordable housing in Springfield. As she and other grassroots members started speaking with renters, more issues came forward.

“It’s really become more of a movement that we believe we need decent housing,” Altic said. “There needs to be some accountability structures in place to make sure these things happen.”

A bill brought before Springfield City Council in October 2020 to approve a multimillion-dollar bond issuance for a multisite affordable housing rehabilitation program was stalled after tenants’ group members asked for the vote to be postponed.

Springfield Tenants Unite members expressed worries about the use of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program for the project. Altic said the group was concerned renters’ rights were not being protected.

“We realized the city was saying they couldn’t do anything about it because it wasn’t under their purview,” Altic said. “We believe that something like a tenants’ bill of rights actually then puts it in the hands of the city, where we can have some level of accountability.”

Bill of rights
Altic said the bill of rights is intended to establish basic protections for renters and increase accountability of existing policy. The group is still preparing the final version of the bill but some items are representation for tenants in eviction court, an accountable program of licenses and inspections for landlords, and a set standard for homes considered safe and livable.

Altic said the group of tenants has been working for several months on a preliminary step she called the Springfield People’s Housing Platform, which will outline major issues in housing. The group’s desires also include ways to address homelessness in Springfield, Altic said.

“When we’re talking about renters, we know primarily it’s going to be poor and working people who, if there is an emergency, could very much end up homeless. So we have people within our base that bounce between the two,” Altic said.

During the March 6 rally, Springfield Tenants Unite member Kamran Choudhry outlined potential items in the tenants’ bill of rights:
• expanded services for people experiencing homelessness;
• public funds dedicated to a housing trust fund;
• public housing and housing assistance;
• market regulations, including citywide community benefits agreements, rent control and increased enforcement of current landlord regulations; and
• structural reform to the decision-making process relating to housing policy.

“We hope that all candidates for mayor and City Council issue a public response to our platform,” said Choudhry, a Springfield renter. “We want to see your commitment to our housing platform and Springfield tenants.”

Springfield Tenants Unite plans to make public the full housing platform and candidate responses on its Facebook page.

Officials in the city’s Planning & Development Department were not immediately available for comment on the campaign proposals.

Policy precedent
If enacted, Springfield would not be the first Missouri city to adopt a tenants’ bill of rights. Altic said the local group has followed the work of Kansas City Tenants as it successfully pushed for a bill of rights that was approved in December 2019.

The KC Tenants’ bill of rights included a resolution affirming the mayor and Kansas City Council’s commitment to enforcing existing tenant rights and additional protections, and the right to safe and accessible housing, according to an executive summary on KC Tenants’ website.

An ordinance also was passed by the Kansas City Council establishing a Division of Housing and Community Development and implementing various policies: requiring property owners to provide a bill of rights to tenants, give at least 24 hours’ notice before entering a unit and furnish contacts for all utility providers; preventing discrimination on the basis of prior arrests or convictions; preventing refusal to rent based solely on lawful sources of income such as child support and rental assistance; and establishing classes protected from discrimination.

The bill of rights will need a sponsor on the Springfield City Council to bring it forward for a vote. Altic said two council seat A candidates – Randy Allen and Justin Burnett – have expressed support for the tenants’ bill of rights and both attended the rally.

“Any candidate that really cares about their constituents, we want to see them do something policywise about the issue within the first 100 days of office,” Altic said.

Based on previous discussions before the public housing bill was approved in late 2020, Altic said she believes council will support a tenants’ bill of rights.

Outside of the bill of rights, the group has goals of increasing conversations about affordable housing and gentrification in Springfield.

“We’re expecting the affordable housing crisis to become even worse without any immediate action,” she said.

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