Heartland Center for Jobs & Freedom
Springfield tenants represented by the Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom won a preliminary injunction in their class action lawsuit against their former and current landlords. The injunction halts current plans to evict low-income, senior, and disabled tenants from their homes this August.
In May of 2025, tenants of two Springfield affordable housing complexes, Rosewood Estates and Cedarwood Terrace Apartments, brought the suit after learning their homes had been removed from the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program when previous owners sold the properties to wealthy developers seeking to transform their homes into luxury developments. The conversion would have forced residents from their affordable homes and removed federal protections. The underlying Complaint alleges that the current and former owners’ failure to appropriately opt out of the program deprived them of their rights under federal and state law.
The Court’s injunction ruling found that the tenants have a probability to succeed on their claims that Defendants unlawfully removed the properties from the LIHTC affordable housing program; that the loss of their homes would cause them irreparable harm; and that the harm to tenants would outweigh any potential harm to the developers.
This ruling shows the power of tenants organizing and unionizing. Our landlords thought they could come in and take away our affordable homes and destroy the tight-knit communities we have created to make a profit, and that no one would challenge them. But we organized, and we are fighting back. We are strong and have each other’s backs. Wealthy landlords are not more powerful than organized, united tenants.
The major victory won by Rosewood and Cedarwood tenants reinforces fundamental principles: LIHTC tenants have meaningful protections, and those same tenants can organize to enforce those rights, as Congress intended. The significance of this decision extends well beyond a single property. Millions of families rely on LIHTC housing as the nation’s largest affordable rental housing program. We hope this decision encourages owners, investors, and housing agencies nationwide to honor both the letter and the spirit of the LIHTC program.
While the fight to preserve these homes and communities continues, today’s decision confirms the strength of the tenants’ legal claims. Tenants in federally supported affordable housing have important rights, and we are proud to work alongside Rosewood and Cedarwood tenants to ensure these rights are respected.
A press conference will be held by Springfield Tenants Unite (STUN) and the Rosewood-Cedarwood Tenant Union on Monday, August 3 at 10 a.m. at Downtown Springfield’s Park Central Square, 429 N. Boonville Ave., Springfield, MO 65806.
About the legal team
Legal support is provided by the Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom, a nonprofit organization in Kansas City, Missouri, that enforces the rights of low-wage workers and tenants, and local Springfield attorney Eric Jensen of the SJP Law Firm.
About the Rosewood-Cedarwood Tenant Union
Rosewood-Cedarwood Tenant Union is a chapter of Springfield Tenants Unite (STUN), Springfield, Missouri’s citywide tenant union. Founded in June 2020, STUN is organizing to ensure that everyone in Springfield has access to safe, accessible, and truly affordable homes. They are led by a multigenerational, multiracial base of poor and working-class tenants.
Media contact
Press release: L Hudson, lhudson@jobsandfreedom.org, 816-541-6791
Press interviews: Sarah Barnts, sarah@sgftenantsunite.org, 417-848-0671