Incidents of retaliation against tenants by landlords are catching the eye of the Wichita city council. “We are aware of a couple of slum lords that continue to do these things,” says District 1 city council member Brandon Johnson. “And unfortunately, there’s only state law, but there’s no state enforcement. And that’s why we’re looking at trying to do something on the local level to give some form of municipal justice to this injustice.” The council is set to vote on a proposed ordinance to fine landlords found to be using retaliatory practices. The fine would begin at $250 on the first offense, and would continue to go up if the landlord kept retaliating. Nate Johnson with the city’s law department says, however, that this wouldn’t just be for retaliatory evictions. “Things like diminished services, increased rent, and all of that done in response to normally a request to make the place more habitable,” Johnson said. Brandon Johnson said that while the issue of retaliatory evictions is important, it’s only one of many problems with hosing in Wichita. “Hopefully, these types of ordinances will allow people to push back in a way that gets those slumlords to stop acting that way, or eventually get somebody who’s a better owner or manager of property to buy those properties from,” Johnson said. Johnson said that he intends to vote for this new ordinance at the full meeting on December 19th.
Source: KAKE – News
