KC Struggles With Homes for Voucher Holders

The Kansas City Housing Authority (KCHA) issued nearly 8,400 Housing Choice (Section 8) Vouchers in 2023, but 1,300 went unused. 

With an obvious demand for vouchers and 17,500 families on the waitlist to get a voucher as of December, why would a housing voucher go unused?  

Renters with housing vouchers are finding that landlords in KC aren’t accepting their vouchers. 

Ashley Johnson is one such renter.  When she was 21 years old, she received a Section 8 housing voucher but couldn’t find a place to live.  She contacted more than 50 rental properties in Kansas City before finding a property that would accept her.

The property that accepted her voucher failed the government inspection three times, and Johnson’s voucher then expired without being used. Johnson and her young daughter had to restart the process and were forced into a period of homelessness as a result. 

“No family should have to go through what my family went through,” said Johnson, now a leader with KC Tenants.   

Source-of-Income Discrimination Ban

In response to situations like Johnson’s, KC Tenants — a tenants union and rights organization — has urged the city council to adopt a ban on source-of-income discrimination. 

The core idea is that landlords shouldn’t treat people differently based on how they pay their rent, including discriminating against voucher holders. 

“For me, this makes very basic, simple, perfect, common sense,” said Mayor Quinton Lucas. “It [the ordinance] says that if you lawfully obtain income, it doesn’t matter how you pay your rent.”

Lucas introduced the city ordinance banning source-of-income (SOI) discrimination and 

five of 12 city council members have joined him as cosponsors of the bill.  

Proponents of the ordinance say that SOI discrimination disproportionately affects minorities generally and single Black mothers specifically. 

The proposed ordinance includes broad coverage, also banning discrimination based solely on credit score, prior evictions or alleged damages, and/or prior convictions or arrests.

If found in violation of the new ordinance, landlords face a $1,000 fine per offense. Landlords who repeatedly violate the new ordinance will be put on probation and eventually have their permit to lease properties put in jeopardy.  

Property Owners Objections

Many landlords don’t want to accept housing vouchers because of the additional paperwork and property inspections required by the program.  

Stacey Johnson-Cosby, president of KC Housing Alliance, which represents a number of local landlords, says the proposed SOI ordinance goes too far and punishes all landlords who don’t want to deal with the additional hassle and will cause many to sell their properties in KC, making the affordable housing shortage in the city worse. 

Landlord Incentives

Johnson-Cosby and other area rental property owners are advocating for incentives, rather than punishment, as a way to encourage landlords to rent to voucher users. Growing in popularity, and facing similar problems with landlords not wanting to lease to Section 8 voucher holders, both Johnson County and Wichita, KS, instituted landlord incentive programs 

In July 2023, Johnson County set aside $200,000 for landlord incentives. Under the program, landlords received a sign-on bonus of double a month’s rent for each unit they rent to a family with a housing choice voucher. The incentive program led to 10 landlords signing up for the first time and 59 additional families getting housed. 

In Wichita, after implementing a landlord incentive program in January 2023, people issued vouchers who successfully signed leases increased from 28% in 2022 to 48% by October 2023.  

“They incentivized instead of penalized,” says Johnson-Cosby. “Forcing [landlords] will not help; incentivizing us is a better way to actually help that family with a voucher.” 

The Johnson County Housing Authority worked to expedite the paperwork process involved with renting to voucher holders and offered courtesy inspections of properties to help landlords prepare for the final safety inspection.  

Both Wichita and Johnson County also set up funds that landlords can draw on to help make uninsured property repairs from damage made by Section 8 tenants.  

In Johnson County, landlords can get up to $3,500 if a voucher renter damages their property. In Wichita, housing authority will cover up to $2,000 in damages or deductibles for a 0- to 1-bedroom apartment and $3,500 for 2-bedroom or larger units, after applying the security deposit.

In addition, the Wichita program provides up to two times the monthly rent to cover lost rent due to eviction, abandonment, or other premature termination of the lease during the initial term, if the landlord commits to leasing to another Section 8 tenant.

City Council’s Next Moves

Late last year, the Kansas City Legal Review Special Committee voted to favorably pass the Source of Income Ordinance on to the city council as a whole, with several proposed substitutions, including a proposal that would allow landlords not to opt out of renting to an individual if the cost of getting their improvements up to inspection standards exceeds a certain amount. 

The same committee also favorably passed a resolution directing the city manager to research and present program ideas for an incentive program that will help increase the number of landlords willing to rent to families with Section 8 vouchers.  

Numerous substitute motions to both the SOI ordinance and the landlord incentive program have been proposed. A robust debate around both is expected this month. 

Councilman Darrell Curls voiced hope that the two proposals could come together as one package, while Johnson-Cosby hopes to see the SOI ban proposal dropped in favor of incentives.