REI Association List, State-Wide

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Why is an investor association so important? Do you remember back about 10 to 15 years when a single housing provider in Kansas City with the help of a very few people raised $100,000 to sue the Kansas City Missouri Water Department over their Billing Practices? Did you know that the plaintiffs, housing providers being billed for their renters unpaid water bills actually won their case? Most people don’t.

This was just one battle. To get the Water Department in Kansas City Missouri to actually change their practices it was going to require either a class action or a change of state law in Missouri that allows city-owned utilities to bill owners of property for the renter’s unpaid bills.

Advocating for State Wide Real Estate Investor Associations

Individually as private property owners, we probably don’t have much of a voice at City Hall or in the State House or Senate. We have no voice in Washington, except when we vote. But when we band together as a group, we can get our voices heard. Here in Kansas City, through the leadership of Stacey Johnson-Cosby, we have been able to bring together lots of groups with one voice several times to fight city hall. While we didn’t win the wars we were fighting, we did win a lot of battles that kept things from being quite as bad as they could have been.

This month we are gathering together yet again to fight city hall on Section 8 and Screening Practices, we do have a unified voice it seems.

But whether you know it or not, there is a much bigger battle brewing and it is going to be at the state level. Right now there is a Missouri state law that prohibits rent control. Many states across the country have these laws. Several had these laws and had them changed. We see the “tenant advocacy groups” who say they have the interest of the renters in mind taking on this law in the next few years. And while we have banded together in Kansas City, we don’t have that voice at the state level. We need it.

Ohio Real Estate Investors Association as a Model

There may be other state-wide REIA groups in the country, but the largest and best known to us here in Kansas City is OREIA. In Ohio, there are 14 REIA groups across the state that take part and support the state REIA. They have the people they need who spend considerable time and effort to raise the treasure or money needed. The board and volunteers work, but they do have a Lobbyist who leads the charge.

We have seen them effectively ban the term Landlord, getting it changed to Housing Provider. We have seen them help a single landlord fight a fair housing charge. And this past year their efforts have been toward changing the state law as it pertains to city-owned utility billing practices. They have the same water department issues we do. They seem to have some issues coming up that are very similar to what many in other states are facing. You can click here to read their latest newsletter.

What We Have in Kansas & Missouri

Several years ago a small group of housing providers banded together to start Missouri Property Owners Association in Missouri. While we were able to gather a small amount of funding from a few groups who get the need for a state group, there were not enough funds to pay for anything and other than a few folks in Kansas City and one person in the center of the state, no one had the time to help. While this group exists on Meetup, nothing much has happened.

In the state of Kansas, we have been very lucky to have The Associated Landlords of Kansas, of no website, supported by the many small and dwindling landlord groups across the state, led by just one man doing all the lobby effort, mostly on his dime. He has single-handedly kept some very bad legislation from happening. If you see Ed Jaskinia, please thank him for his efforts. But he is not going to be able to be our white knight for ever.

What do you have in your state?

If you are a solo business owner in any industry, we highly recommend you join an association of your industry locally: landlords, realtors, property managers, real estate investors, mortgage bankers, home builders, apartment owners, the list goes on. If there is no local group start one. Find a free location where you can gather – someone’s office, the public library, someone’s living room and get together monthly to talk shop and have an iced tea. Grow from there.

If you have a state-wide organization, get your local group to join the state group, or join yourself as an individual.

Support Your Local Group

Here at in Kansas City we have a lot of small groups working very hard on your behalf. When we have a big issue that affects every housing provider in the city, and we get about 20 to 30 people who raise their hands, roll up their sleeves, and WORK. Yes, we can get quite a few to send an email or fill out a survey. And we do get a lot of ‘attaboys’ and messages of thanks. What these groups need is your membership – both your name on the membership rolls, your membership dues, and your time and effort in some way.

We have several fewer landlord groups in the KC metro now than we have in the past. If you own rental property or invest in their area, please join and take part in their meetings, and their calls to action, and consider volunteering as they need the next generation to take over. If you don’t, someday soon, your interest will not be represented. These groups do way more than hold a meeting once a month that you may or may not be able to attend.

Kansas and Missouri Associations:

Do you know a group we are missing or that no longer exists? Let us know so we can keep this list up to date.

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