Heartland Center for Jobs & Freedom
Tenants with the Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom are claiming two major victories this week:
- A long-awaited ruling was delivered in Quality Hill Apartments LP v. Keyon Hardin, awarding Mr. Hardin $19,067 in back rent and damages and throwing out Quality Hill Towers’ eviction case. After six days of trial in late 2023, the court found that the apartment was infested with roaches during the entirety of the tenancy and that sewage discharge prevented Mr. Hardin from showering and even induced him to vomit. The court found the apartment to have zero rental value. The eviction case was brought in the name of Quality Hill Apartments but was thrown out when a multinational corporation called Sentinel Real Estate revealed itself as the actual entity behind the case. Mr. Hardin then prevailed on his counterclaim for violations of consumer-protection laws.
- Another tenant victory arrived when a federal court in Kansas approved a class-wide settlement in Coe v. Cross-Lines Retirement Center and Young Management Corp. The case involved a large, mismanaged apartment complex in Kansas City, Kansas, housing elderly and disabled tenants plagued by bedbug infestations and other issues. After years of litigation, tenants won significant back rent and injunctive relief that will ensure the building remains infestation-free. The $4.6 million settlement will deliver relief to 350 current and former tenants.
I hope the class settlement will encourage all tenants to stand up for their rights because we don’t have to live like this.
All renters deserve to have safe and happy homes; we are not dollar signs, we are human beings.
The Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom launched its Safe Homes for All Program after witnessing an epidemic of unsafe housing conditions in the homes of tenants being sued for eviction.
This is not a one-way street. Landlords have a duty to maintain homes in safe and livable manners, just as tenants have duties to pay rent. But for decades, no one has enforced the laws protecting tenants. Safe Homes for All is changing that.
Tenants have a right to an infestation-free home, functioning plumbing and electrical systems, and safe structural conditions. The Heartland Center legal team has established self-help toolkits for tenants living in bad conditions and is managing three class-action cases, including a case against Stonegate Meadows, along with several individual cases.
Infestations cause asthma, terrible mental stress, and illness in tenants, and yet low-income tenants are routinely subjected to these dangers.
We are enforcing the law against all types of landlords, whether they are regional management companies, multinational corporations, or irresponsible smaller-scale owners. If you own or manage properties, it is important to follow the law and keep tenants safe.
About the Heartland Center
Founded in 2017, Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom is a nonprofit legal center that enforces the rights of tenants and low-wage workers. For updates and information, visit jobsandfreedom.org or follow @jobsandfreedom on Instagram.
Media contact
Candace Ladd, candaceladd@jobsandfreedom.org