The Lenexa pastry chef had just quit her job and launched a new business when she was assaulted by her husband last fall.
She left her apartment and took refuge in a local motel to escape the abuse.
With little time and money, there were few options available as she tried negotiating her way out of a lease.
She could remain in the apartment where she would not only live with a daily reminder of the trauma, but would still be vulnerable to more abuse from her husband.
Or she could relocate within the complex, pay a $300 transfer fee plus pay the rent and utility bills on two apartments.
A third option meant forking out even more money to void her lease. It, too, wasn’t an answer.
“None of the options were safe nor were they affordable,” the woman said in a statement submitted to senators.
“Worst of all, they gave my abuser power and control to continue victimizing me when I was fighting to get away.”
It’s the kind of squeeze that domestic violence victims find themselves in when they seek a safe haven in the aftermath of a domestic attack.
They need to relocate, but lease restrictions can make it so costly that they remain in a living arrangement that threatens their safety.
“Victims face an array of consequences for breaking their leases because it’s no longer safe in their current housing,” said Julie Donelon, president and chief executive of the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault in Kansas City.
Lawmakers are considering a bill that would give housing protections to domestic abuse victims, namely making it easier to get out of costly leases that prevent them from moving to safe locations.
The bill is backed by a bipartisan coalition of 26 senators including the chamber’s president, vice president and minority leader.
The bill would wipe away the tenant’s responsibility for rent after leaving the property in cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking so long as they provide notice.
It allows landlords to impose a “reasonable” termination fee for domestic violence victims who want out of their lease.
The bill gives victims a defense for a landlord who wants rent from a tenant who leaves the property to escape abuse.
The legislation also makes it illegal to evict someone because they’re a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking.
Democratic state Sens. Dinah Sykes and Oletha Faust-Goudeau are leading the effort to get the domestic violence bill passed.
“We know that domestic violence is one of the leading causes of homelessness for women and children,” Sykes told the Senate Judiciary Committee this week.
“Safe housing is an important step toward leaving an unsafe situation,” Sykes said. “The least we can do is to make sure these victims aren’t discriminated against in housing when they try to escape danger.”
Advocates for domestic abuse victims are turning out in force to support the legislation, which they say is critical for protecting domestic violence victims.
Donelon, during a hearing Wednesday, said domestic violence victims may be evicted if they try getting out of their lease when they explain to their landlord why they’re unsafe in their apartment.
They also can be forced to buy out the rest of their lease agreement or pay a cost-prohibitive penalty even if they show documentation of the abuse, she said.
“The victim,” Donelon said, “is then faced with whether to stay in their home even though it is unsafe…or break the terms of their lease anyway and face a judgment on their credit report or a serious disruption of their rental history.”
Lenexa Police Detective Shannon Leeper has investigated thousands of abuse cases working in the department’s special victims unit in the last decade. She knows firsthand about the difficulties leases can present domestic abuse victims seeking safety.
Leeper told lawmakers about victims having to forfeit their deposit and lay out one or two months of rent to break their lease. They also need money to establish a new residence.
“It is very unreasonable for these victims,” she said. “Oftentimes they’re stuck. They’re stuck in the same place where they were victimized, so they are retraumatized.”
And they’re at risk of more violence, she said.
“These perpetrators also have access to” the victims, Leeper said. “They know where they live and they know how to find them, to follow them and to track their activities.
“Really, there is no safe place for them in those circumstances.”
The bill has the support of The Associated Landlords of Kansas.
The organization said the bill provides “fair and reasonable” language for protecting victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking”
“This bill seems very appropriate,” said Ed Jaskinia, president of the landlords group. “You put all the proper safeguards in it both for the victim and the landlord.”
Jaskinia suggested some refinement, including being more specific about the amount of the termination fee for victims to get out of their lease. Sykes said she wants to soften out any rough edges. She hopes the Senate committee will work the bill next week.
Republican state Sen. Rick Wilborn, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he expected his panel to work the legislation.
“We’re leaning that way,” Wilborn said. “Obviously, it has a lot of support.”
