Some KC tenants hit with late fees after historic rent strike with Independence tenants

Tenants at Quality Hill Towers and Independence Towers continue to face poor living conditions and recently, late fees, after announcing the Kansas City metro’s largest rent strike on record earlier this week.

KC Tenants union members of Independence Towers and Quality Hill Towers said they’re withholding over $60,000 in combined rent payments for the month of October. They said they have issued clear demands for rent caps, new ownership, and collectively bargained leases.

63% of Quality Hill tenants and 65% of Independence Towers tenants are a part of the group of 89 striking tenants as of Friday, KC Tenants said.

Sentinel Real Estate Corporation, the Quality Hill Towers landlord, distributed a “friendly fall reminder” to pay rent and called the strike “misguided and short-sighted.”

Quality Hill resident Susan Turner said late fees at the 817 Jefferson Street high-rise have already begun mounting, after a spokesperson for the complex said a grace period for rent payments was extended to 11:59 p.m. Oct. 3.

Independence Towers resident Diasha White has lived at the building since 2018, and said she hasn’t seen any late fees or received any feedback from management about rent yet.

This is the first rent strike in the city since at least 1980, the KC Tenants organization said in an email. KC Tenants said it would also be the first-ever strike to target the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA), the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac regulator, which backed the loans used to purchase both properties.

FHFA told The Star on Friday that money was distributed to Independence Towers through Fannie Mae to begin repairs on that building’s issues, like replacing the carpet and air conditioning units.

“Through its actions resulting in the Receiver’s appointment by the Jackson County Court, Fannie Mae has provided resources and worked closely with the Receiver to address needed repairs, including repairs tenants have brought to the awareness of the Receiver and property management company,” a spokesperson for Fannie Mae told The Star.

Independence Towers has been overseen by Trigild, Inc. since May after previous operators, FTW Investments and its co-founder Parker Webb, were ousted by a Jackson County judge for violating their loan agreement.

“Fannie Mae remains committed to supporting ongoing work the Receiver needs to complete until the, property has been placed into new ownership,” the spokesperson said.

White said she has recently seen carpet being replaced, and the building’s pest control problem being treated. She believes the fact that U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, the Congressional representative for Missouri’s fifth district, took a tour of the building in September had the most effect in making these minimal changes possible. FHFA confirmed they corresponded with Cleaver and the tenant union to help address the situation.

But much more work is still needed. According to White, the radiators in the building, operated by a boiler system, haven’t worked for a year.

“If they don’t replace that part of the plumbing that needs to be replaced and upgraded, we are not going to have heat for the winter,” she said.

KC Tenants said problems at both buildings have persisted for years, and tenants have received support from some Kansas City officials, despite city inspections in both Kansas City and Independence which deem both buildings suitable for living.

‘I couldn’t take a hot bath’

On Thursday, Kansas City councilmembers Eric Bunch and Johnathan Duncaan took a tour of Quality Hill Towers. The same day, Bunch, Duncan and six other members of the council signed a solidarity letter expressing support for the union, demanding negotiation from Sentinel and the FHFA, asking both entities not to retaliate for the strike and to waive late fees.

KC Tenants posted on social media that tenants were hit with late fees on Friday.

However, Kansas City’s Healthy Homes rental inspection program issued a news release Friday, redeeming the apartment complex to be in livable conditions.

The program’s inspection noted several violations in Quality Hill Towers, but they were “not severe enough to render any inspected units uninhabitable,” the city said in a statement Friday. A detailed report is being finalized with the city aiming to hold property owners accountable for all violations, the statement said.

On social media , Bunch said he and councilmember Crispin Rea are meeting next week to “discuss potential improvements of Healthy Homes.”

Tenants at Quality Hill Towers previously told The Star they’ve endured burst pipes, unresolved sewage backup and pest infestations. Their complaints were met by ignored maintenance requests, eviction threats, retaliation and rent hikes, the tenants claim.

Turner, a two-year resident, said she has been dealing with several water issues: her sink overflowed with water onto the carpet for four weeks and at one point, she didn’t have hot water for six months.

“I remember it vividly, because I couldn’t take a hot bath when I was freezing cold in my own apartment,” she said.

At Independence Towers, the building passed its latest city inspection in 2023 despite a host of problems including plumbing issues, holes in ceilings and walls and no heating or air conditioning. The problems also include broken appliances and faulty window latches in part to blame for a toddler falling to his death in July.

Independence mayor Rory Rowland previously admitted to The Star that the city’s Rental Ready Program failed tenants when Independence Towers passed inspection with perfect scores.

Lawyers previously told The Star the city could be doing more to hold building owners accountable, while city leaders claimed their hands are tied because no tenants have filed formal complaints. Tenant advocates and attorneys say the process to file complaints is inaccessible to many tenants, and puts them at risk of eviction.

‘We can change this’

The Quality Hill Towers Tenant Union claimed Sentinel has refused to bargain with the union since September, when they sent a demand letter to the company ahead of the strike. In a statement Friday, Megan Kivlehan, spokesperson for Quality Hill Towers, confirmed Sentinel hasn’t communicated with the union since August. The demand letter was met with no repsonse.

Kivlehan said management has been working with the union in good faith for over a year, and said claims made by the tenant union are false. According to Kivlehan, the work that tenants demanded has been completed or is underway with the rent strike impeding the property’s ability to complete repairs. The complex has also received a “higher-than-normal percentage of on-time rent payments as compared to previous months of 2024.”

“We value our tenants and care about their living experience,” Kivlehan said. “This is why we continue to take steps to ensure their satisfaction and comfort.”

Trigild, the receiver of Independence Towers, did not respond to The Star’s request for comment.

Missouri law allows tenants to withhold rent if the landlord breaks “implied warranty of habitability,” which requires the rental unit to be fit to be lived in. But the state does not protect tenants who join a rent strike, who are at risk of eviction.

For Turner and White, moving is an unlikely option. Turner lives by herself and can’t afford to move. White wants to keep a stable home for her teenage daughter and believes the strike could last until the end of the year.

They both want to fight for what they believe is right and instill changes in their current homes and across the country.

“[Sentinel has] to come to the negotiating table, honestly and in good faith,” Turner said.

“If we stand together with one voice, if we just stick together right here in this area, we can change this,” White said.

The Star’s Kendrick Calfee and Noelle Alviz-Gransee contributed to this reporting.