A new ordinance allowing the city of Wichita to fine landlords who retaliate against tenants has yet to be put to use.

Landlord retaliation can include an eviction or rent increase within six months of a tenant's complaint to the city's inspections department about the quality of their housing, according to the ordinance . It was passed in January 2024 by the City Council after several council members said they heard complaints from tenants about retaliation.

But between January 2024 and January 2025, the city received just nine complete complaints from tenants alleging retaliation, said city attorney Jennifer Magaña.

Once the city receives a complaint, an attorney reviews it to ensure it meets the city’s criteria. If it does, the city can investigate the complaint for probable cause before officially opening a case against the landlord in municipal court.

The city hadn’t escalated any of the complaints to court – and thus no fines had been handed out – as of January 2025. Some complaints were dismissed in the initial review for issues like the tenant living outside of the city of Wichita or having been filed too late after the incident.

Magaña said she expects more complaints to be filed as residents learn more about the city’s policy.

“I believe that it has a purpose in sending a message that retaliation is prohibited,” she said.

Council member Brandon Johnson agreed. He said he’s also found many individuals who contact the city are in the throes of an eviction, making it difficult for them to provide a thorough complaint.

“The challenge is individuals having the wherewithal to reach out to us in a time of crisis and get the process started,” Johnson said.

Plus, the city’s complaint process doesn’t stop the actual eviction process from occurring.

“Some of those things, I think, frustrate citizens who want to show that they've been retaliated against, but the reward from being found truthful on that doesn't help you 30 days out,” Johnson said. “Because you're in some other space or, you know, hopefully not homeless.”

Johnson emphasized that anyone who thinks they’ve been retaliated against needs to collect as much written evidence and documentation to show they were trying to communicate with the landlord or property manager about issues in their homes.

Landlord Shawn Land is the former president of Rental Owners Incorporated, a group of Wichita property owners. She said landlords were initially concerned that the policy could make it easier for tenants to make false accusations of retaliation when a legitimate eviction arises.

So far, she said, the low number of complaints have meant the city’s new retaliation policy has not changed the city’s housing landscape significantly – though no one in her group had instances of retaliation they were concerned about.

“With this new retaliatory process that they're putting in, they need to just run it a little bit longer and figure out … if it's necessary,” Land said. “... It has only been in effect for a year. There's not a lot of activity going on with it. So is it necessary? I mean, do we really need to be concerned about that?”

Marva Bell is one tenant who filed a retaliation complaint with the city in 2024. In December 2023, her landlord issued her a 14/30 notice – a legal document telling tenants they have 14 days to either correct an issue or vacate in 30 days.

Bell’s landlord told her she had caused noise disturbances and made “incessant calls to 911” about another tenant. Bell says she called the police because her neighbor was smoking marijuana and being loud.

The city dismissed Bell’s complaint before investigating fully because the landlord had not technically issued an eviction notice but a legally distinct notice to vacate.

Bell said she felt the city dismissed her case on a technicality.

“I would have liked the city, … if they get complaints or retaliation paperwork from a tenant, to kind of take it serious and kind of like do an investigation,” Bell said.

“Because I took almost 200 pieces of paper from text messages that I had to print off, and I don't believe that they looked through each one of those pieces of paper.”