Public letter to Kansas City Missouri City Council
While I did send a message to the city council about how bad the Source of Income Ban Ordinance and why, I also sent this message as to why it’s a bad idea:
Councilmembers,
Do you remember learning in school or church or somewhere the concept of offering a CARROT over a STICK?
It was an entire day in a class I took in college – that when training a Dog if you reward him for doing the thing you want him to do he will learn the preferred action. But beat that Dog with a stick for doing something bad and he will continue to do it.
So this ordinance sounds awesome I guess if your goal is to get everyone to participate in Section 8 housing, except it’s not. I have seen “Stick” type, do not do this rules time and again and for the most part they are in the case of the city, not even known to exist. But for those who know about it, some might comply. More will find a workaround, like raising rents across the board, problem solved. Others will choose to leave.
I just read a study on how to get more participation in Section 8 and all the recommendations are Carrots, not sticks.
You can read this report here: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/research/files/harvard_jchs_housing_vouchers_grantmaking_darin_2023.pdf
Just this past year Johnson County Kansas created a Carrot-type incentive program to incentivize housing providers to participate. It didn’t cause rents to go up, it didn’t cause housing providers to leave the business, it did find housing for 80 voucher holders and brought about 25 new housing providers into the Section 8 program. They worked directly with the Landlords of Johnson County a group -to get input and implement the program. Imagine that: working with housing providers who know how things work and have a stake in the industry.
I learned late Friday that Resolution #231039 was presented as a Carrot by Councilmember Willett. I urge you to take a look at this Resolution and get behind it.
By the way, did you know our organization has been in business since 2004? We have almost 700 paid members and about 4000 associated members. We represent 1000s of units across the metro and spend $100,000s in the community every year fixing up and maintaining houses. We are behind a lot of sales tax dollars, and real estate tax dollars and provide 1000s of jobs in the metro. We know about these things and have people who are willing to help address an issue. No one has ever reached out to us and instead, just keep creating sticks and beating us down. This might be why since 2008 the ownership of many of the rentals in Kansas City Missouri has changed from local housing providers to out-of-state hedge funds. If that is the goal great, but I understand that people are not happy that hedge funds own rentals.
Your Partner in Success,
Kim Tucker
Executive Director Mid-America Association of Real Estate Investors
105 East Street #29125
Parkville, MO 64152
