In brief, the grievance procedure is a process that assures KCHA residents a reasonable review of complaints or disputes regarding actions or inactions by KCHA that may have had an adverse impact on a resident and/or their rights and duties under the dwelling lease. The complete KCHA Grievance Policy (pdf) is available for downloading.

The grievance procedure is not used to settle disputes between residents or to challenge KCHA policies, but it may be used to allow reasonable review of items such as, but not limited to:

Application of a maintenance charge where the resident does not feel a charge should have been imposed.
Change in rent the resident does not agree should have occurred.
Denial of a request to transfer to another unit or denial of a request for a Reasonable Accommodation to policies or procedures.
Proposed lease termination.

Requesting a Grievance Hearing

Residents must submit a request for a grievance hearing personally – either orally or in writing, to their management office. Generally, requests must be submitted within 10 business days of the adverse action. However, in the case of a hearing request resulting from the service of a 14-day Termination Notice (for non-payment of rent) or a 3-day Termination Notice (for criminal activity or creation of a nuisance/threat to health and safety), a resident must request a hearing within three business days of service of the notice to delay eviction action.

After a Request for a Grievance Hearing is Submitted

The Grievance Procedure is a two-step process which includes the following:

Step 1: Informal Review. During the informal review process, the resident and the area or property manager meet to attempt to resolve the dispute through an informal discussion. A summary of the meeting, including the manager’s determination, will be mailed to the resident within three days of the informal review.

Step 2: Formal Review. If the resident does not agree with the manager’s determination, the resident may request a formal review. Request for a formal review must be received within five business days of receipt of the manager’s notification of the outcome of the informal hearing.

A hearing officer appointed by the Housing Authority conducts the formal review. For disputes under $100, the assigned hearing officer is an impartial employee of KCHA who was not involved in the original decision. For all other grievances, the hearing officer is not a KCHA employee. Rather, the hearing officer is selected from a list of qualified individuals established by KCHA through a qualified bid process.

Once a resident has requested a formal hearing, KCHA staff will work with the hearing officer and resident to schedule a hearing within a reasonable time frame, usually between seven and 15 days from the date of the hearing request.

Residents will be notified in writing of the hearing officer’s decision, usually within 10 business days after the formal hearing.

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