I thought I knew it all... Over 30 years in the housing industry taught me that you learn something new every day. Each week brought with it new challenges and surprises. Some, more difficult than others. I used to dedicate an inordinate amount of time to resolving interpersonal disputes between my tenants and even my employees. These disputes took so much of my time. But what choice did I have? Who else would be the voice of reason when my tenants were fighting? How was I supposed to resolve my employees’ disputes AND grow my business? There were simply not enough hours in the day to do it all. Enter the Conflict Resolution Center-St. Louis (CRC-STL), a nonprofit organization that provides dispute resolution services to landlords and property managers. About a year ago, I joined the CRC-STL team, bringing my past landlord experience and perspective. I’ve now seen firsthand just how much dispute resolution benefits tenants and even the smallest landlord. I only wish that they were around when I was a property manager.
rent, payment plans, rental assistance opportunities, the safety of the units and more. In addition, in some cases, we were able to provide rental assistance to ensure agreements succeeded. We work to bring our communities together. Our mediation services are provided to St. Louisans to address a wide variety of disputes from barking dogs to accusations of police misconduct.
What We Do Through mediation, consultation, and education, CRCSTL can help with a variety of disputes: • Workplace Disputes (employee/employee, employee/ supervisor, business/business) • Landlord/Tenant Disputes (payment plans, repair plans, structured moveout, applications for rental assistance, etc.) • Neighborhood and Community Disputes (barking dogs, noise complaints, parking disputes, etc.) • Citizen/Police Disputes, and More!
Our History CRC-STL was founded in 2017 in response to the unrest in Ferguson, in an effort to support the citizens and businesses of St. Louis City. In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, we launched the Eviction Prevention Mediation Program. To ensure families can stay in their homes and their landlords were not unfairly penalized, we mediated conversations between tenants and landlords to discuss
Before CRC-STL, what I thought I knew about mediation revolved around custody discussions during my divorce. I didn’t know mediation was a tool for regular folks and businesses to resolve conflicts in a confidential setting, avoid costly litigation, and guarantee accountability. Boy, do we need that today. Sometimes I think those in Washington could use some nice neutral, peaceful mediation… CRC-STL defines mediation as a process in which a neutral person helps create a space where individuals who are in a disagreement can identify the conflict and peacefully discuss solutions towards a long-lasting agreement. Mediation is not the opposite of legal services, but rather an experience that gives each party the ability to voice their opinions and rebuild relationships outside of a legal setting.
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regarding rental arrears, evictions or lease terms.
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At the beginning of a mediation, a mediator will establish ground rules and a code of conduct, including rules regarding confidentiality. And before the mediation officially begins, the mediator will have the participants agree, in writing, to follow those ground rules. During the course of the mediation, each participant will have a chance to share their perspective. The mediator will then work with the parties to develop solutions and, in some cases, an agreement between the participants on how they want to proceed in the future. Our mediations generally last between 1 and 2 hours. At the end of a mediation, if the parties have an agreement and if the
314.255.7449 | crcstl.org info@stlresolutioncenter.org
