More Tenants in Kansas City and St. Louis Are Being Evicted: ‘I Was Scared’

Reports coming out of Kansas City and St. Louis in Missouri have highlighted a troubling trend: an increasing number of their city’s inhabitants are facing eviction. Data shows that eviction filings in both cities surpassed pre-pandemic levels last year, sparking concerns about housing security in Missouri’s two biggest cities.

Rising Eviction Rates

In Kansas City, landlords filed 8.7% more evictions in 2023 than in 2022. A similar scenario is playing out in St. Louis, where eviction filings rose by 10.8% in the same period. This insight is based on an annual report from Princeton University’s Eviction Lab, which tracks eviction filing patterns across the U.S. The Princeton team found that among the 32 cities they study, eviction filing rates increased in 25 of them between 2022 and 2023.

“We’re definitely seeing a lot more eviction cases in the past year than we did in the previous years. We find filings are a great indicator of housing insecurity,” noted a research specialist with the Eviction Lab, Grace Hartley. With tenancy protections and assistance programs subsiding, living costs rising, and wages not keeping pace, it’s not hard to understand why tenants are finding themselves in an increasingly precarious situation.

Impact on Tenants

It’s not just the dry figures that are alarming. The human cost of this trend unfolds each time a family is displaced. Jessica Hatstat, a single mother who was evicted from her Independence City apartment in 2023, fell victim to this circumstance. After being laid off temporarily, Hatstat fell behind her rental payments, resulting in pilling late fees that ultimately led to her eviction. Hatstat wasn’t sure of her rights as a tenant during the eviction and felt trapped. She has since discovered helpful organizations, but the memory of that uncertain ordeal lingers on.

The Landlords’ Market

According to Tara Raghuveer, founding director of KC Tenants, a citywide tenant union in Kansas City, landlords are exploiting the market conditions. “We’ve seen landlords increase rents beyond the rate of inflation, we’ve seen a growing trend of lease nonrenewals, and we’ve seen evictions—both formally and informally—spike,” she said.

Raghuveer suggests that the increasing power imbalance between landlords and tenants is largely to blame. In her view, landlords have too much power, and the law does not provide residents with sufficient safeguards. Even with Missouri law stipulating prerequisites for landlords — such as providing habitable properties, paying for ordinary wear and tear repairs, and not making unlawful discriminative actions, tenants remain vulnerable.

What’s Next?

The rising eviction cases pose a grave concern for housing security, further exacerbated by the worsening financial landscape. Without efficient intervention from policymakers, availability, and accessibility to secure housing in the state are poised to dwindle. It’s thus vital for government and non-profit organizations to work collaboratively, ensuring that tenants are aware of their rights while providing necessary social safety nets to keep roofs over heads.