By Kellie Houx
KHoux@cherryroad.com
JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri House passed House Bills 595 and 343, legislation designed to prevent local governments from imposing certain rental regulations on landlords.
Sponsored by State Rep. Chris Brown of District 16, which includes part of Clay County, the bill seeks to protect property owners’ rights by prohibiting municipalities from enforcing ordinances that require landlords to accept Section 8 housing vouchers; prohibit restrictions on landlords from screening tenants based on income, credit history, eviction history, or criminal background; prohibit limits on security deposit amounts; and prohibit tenants an automatic right of first refusal to rental properties.
Brown, a landlord himself, said Kansas City and other municipalities are encroaching on individual property rights.
“This really revolves around Section 8 housing,” he explained. “I understand the desire to get people into affordable rental property, but larger landlords with a full team may do better with the regulations and requirements that go along with Section 8 housing. At the end of the day, it’s a voluntary program.”
Brown said property owners with two to five properties are often the “whole team.”
“If these smaller property owners have these homes for extra income in retirement or to plan to leave them to their children and they have to deal with the bureaucracy, they will sell these homes and it leads to more homes off the market,” he said.
Some representatives from Kansas City argued against the bill, saying the state shouldn’t involve itself with how Kansas City deals with housing issues.
“I took in a friend’s family because they had been evicted. They’ve lived with us for the last year because they could not find anyone to rent with them with an eviction on their record,” KCUR reported Rep. Wick Thomas, D-Kansas City, as saying. “It is already plenty hard for people to find housing without us also discriminating based on source of income.”
The bill passed 104 in favor and 38 against in the House.
These bills are in response to recent local ordinances, including one in Kansas City, that require landlords to participate in federal housing assistance programs.
A year ago, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas championed an anti-discrimination law, which bans landlords from denying tenants based solely on their income, credit score or previous evictions. The Kansas City Council passed the discrimination ban, allowing renters to use Section 8 housing vouchers and other forms of government assistance.
Lucas worked with the citywide tenant union, KC Tenants, on the ban.
As of last week, a federal district court issued a preliminary injunction suspending Kansas City’s ban on landlord discrimination of renters using vouchers to help pay their rent, specifically ones under Section 8.
“The city’s program, approved by the City Council in January 2024, banned landlord prohibitions on renters based on their lawful sources of income, including veterans’ benefits, alimony, child support pages, wages based on tips and gig economy jobs, and certain federal housing subsidies such as the Section 8 program. The court’s order applies only to Section 8 vouchers,” reads a statement from the city.
Lucas said this court challenge now puts housing access for over 17,000 Kansas Citians waiting for housing vouchers at risk.
Brown’s sponsored bills are now being taken up in the Missouri Senate.
