Kansas City MO NEW Source of Income Discrimination Ban Ordinance

[Milton Chamberlain]

Hi BP community,

There was a recent ordinance passed in the state of Missouri (specifically the actual city of Kansas City) pertaining to whether or not landlord's can review and deny tenant applications based on sources of income. It is effective Aug. 1, 2024.

This ordinance is referred to as the Source of Income Discrimination Ban Ordinance" - which is identified in File #231019 and amends sections of Chapter 38 (Civil Rights) and Chapter 34 (Health and Sanitation) in the Missouri Revised Statutes for the purpose of classifying source of income as a protected trait in regard to housing discrimination.

Here are some key takeaways from the attached ordinance:

This ordinance bans discrimination against tenants based solely on:

Source of income from an occupation, including gig work or paying rent in cash Use of public programs like Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, disability checks, or social security Poor credit score Prior evictions and alleged damages older than 12 months (less than 12 months can be a basis for denial) Prior convictions or arrests (sexual and violent crimes are excepted, a landlord can still deny based on these convictions)

The ordinance also requires the city to proactively scan for rental ads using discriminatory language like "no Section 8" or "no past evictions".

Landlords who are found to be in violation of the ordinance with respect to source of income can be fined up to $1,000 per incident. There is a prohibition against posting the landlord's names if they are found to be in violation of the ordinance.

The ordinance includes a $1 million mitigation fund for landlords to offset the costs associated with accepting vouchers. The law also creates a landlord liaison position at City Hall.

Effective in six months (I believe this to be July 1, but I haven't found an exact date anywhere.)

I thought this was important to share, as many of the local investors I work with in the Kansas City Metro have very strong feelings pertaining to this ordinance, and are making very serious decisions pertaining to where they invest in the KC metro.

Let me know if you would like me to email some brief slides explaining the ordinance, or if you want to read the actual ordinance in detail.

[Andrew Syrios]

Yeah, it's ridiculous. Honestly, the screening part is the worst and effectively demands landlords violate fair housing by requiring that you evaluate things like evictions "holistically" (i.e. preventing landlords from having consistent policies that treat each applicant the same.

That being said, the bill is better than the original version at least. Here's the full bill for those who are interested: https://marei.org/kansas-city-missouris-source-of-income-ord...