Tenants rights | abolition notes

A resource guide for tenants

“Housing, more than any area, shows the abject failure of capitalism to solve the problems of African Americans. Housing is so foundationally tied to racism in its conflation of race, risk, and property.”
— Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Canceling Rent Guide - Social Imagejpg.jpg

Before the pandemic rent costs were rising far beyond affordability and wages had continued to stagnate for those at bottom and middle of the earning curve, while wages had risen significantly for those at the top.

Now, the economic and health burdens of the global health crisis continue to hit Black and Latinx communities the hardest and as we carry the energy of collective uprising — against police terror and the brutal police murder of George Floyd in June — more of us are considering what it means to take participate in a growing anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement to abolish injustice in America.

Abolishing housing injustice is a powerful place to start — it arguably devours the largest part of our income, throwing many into spirals of debt, and eventually homelessness. But this shared struggle could help us build the path to a national (and international) solidarity across our political and cultural identities.

Canceling rent is a broader strategy of this solidarity to help radically reshape the dialogue around what housing justice looks like in America — ultimately shifting power back into the hands of the low-income and working class people.

While it’s not a fix-all solution, it opens the conversation towards building tenant unions, organizing rent strikes, demanding a rent and mortgage freeze and forgiveness and policy changes at local and national levels. In this guide we outline a few recent policies, what evictions look like during during the health crisis, and what some of the demands looks like.

A brief timeline of recent events

On April 17th 2020 in an early effort to shift power into the hands of tenants and rental households, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) unveiled the Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act — a bill to institute a nationwide cancellation of rents and home mortgage payments through the duration of the coronavirus pandemic.

The bill would constitute a full payment forgiveness, with no accumulation of debt for renters or homeowners and no negative impact on their credit rating or rental history. The bill currently has 30 co-sponsors but is a long way from being passed.

On April 27th 2020 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held a virtual conference with several housing justice organizations to discuss strategies on how to cancel rent in New York City. The demands included:

Canceling rent for the duration the public health crisis
Freezing rent from any price increases during the pandemic and offering every tenant the right to renew their lease
Expansion and investment in housing for the homeless and unsheltered

On April 29th 2020 tenants in cities all across the US (and around the world) began taking direct action for the largest rent strike in decades amidst the early economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, while the government largely failed to pass adequate economic relief with clear eviction moratoriums and monetary assistance that could meet the needs of low-income residents — not to mention the roughly 3 million unemployed nearly 500k homeless and/or unhoused at the time.

On March 27th 2020 a federal moratorium was passed through the CARES Act protecting around 12 million of the 110 million American’s renting households from eviction. The bill covers almost all of the nation’s affordable housing properties, and some where the mortgages are federally backed and others that participate in a mortgage forbearance program.

While this bill left the majority of rental tenants unprotected on a federal level, it was then up to state and local governments to create and enforce eviction moratoriums in their cities and counties.

On May 12th 2020 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) released the HEROES Act along with other cosponsors of the Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act for prioritizing #RentReliefNow and homeless assistance funding in the House bill. The $3 trillion bill proposes almost $200 billion in additional funding for housing and homelessness programs to help communities respond to the coronavirus crisis, including:

Emergency Rental Assistance
Emergency Solutions Grants
Eviction and Foreclosure Moratorium
New Emergency Vouchers
Homeowner Assistance Fund
Tenant Based Rental Assistance
Project-Based Rental Assistance
Public Housing Funds
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)
Housing for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)
Other HUD Programs
USDA Rural Housing Programs
FEMA Disaster Assistance Programs
Tribal Housing Programs

You can sign the petition here to tell congress to take action to ensure housing stability for all during and after the pandemic.

On July 24th 2020 the limited renters protections of the CARES Act expired, leaving an estimated 30-40 million households at risk of eviction by September 2020.

On July 16th 2020 U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) announced The Rent Emergencies Leave Impacts on Evicted Families (RELIEF) Act. It aims to:

Ban evictions and foreclosures for a year;
Prevent utility companies from cutting off access to power, water, or gas
Prohibit landlords from raising tenants’ rent
Prevent negative credit reporting as Americans grapple with the worst economy in generations.

Additionally, the plan would provide new assistance and legal protections for borrowers and renters, and increases oversight and accountability for landlords and mortgage collectors.

A look at some demands

Los Angeles Tenants Union

The L.A. Tenants Union is an autonomous, member-funded union fighting for the human right to housing far before the pandemic. In their work they organize tenants against evictions and harassment with rent strikes, direct action, and media campaigns.

On LATU’s website they offer quite a few resources for tenants to action including a downloadable seven chapter tenant’s handbook, as well as tell the stories of specific tenants and their struggle for fair and affordable housing.

On Sunday March 15th 2020 the LATU released three sets of demands including demands for the housed, unhoused, and universal:

Support for Housed Tenants:

An immediate moratorium on all evictions.
An immediate suspension of all rent collection (“rent holiday”) for the months of April and May (to be extended depending on the length of the crisis), to ensure that tenants do not lose their homes in the event of loss of work.
Passage of anti-harassment measures protecting tenants from harassment by landlords.
Support for mortgage-holders (“bank tenants”) unable to make payments due to loss of work.

Support for Unhoused Tenants:

An immediate stop to all evictions of unhoused encampments and the towing of RVs used for shelter.
An immediate suspension of daytime “tents down” enforcement.
Provide immediate 24/7 access to clean toilets and washrooms for all unhoused people.
The immediate expropriation of all vacant units to be used for housing the unhoused in Los Angeles County.

Universal Support:

Emergency access to food and water for the poor.
In the event that people are quarantined, that their accommodations be free of mold, infestation, and other health risks that come from health and code violations.
Guaranteed, free utilities (e.g. water, gas, electricity, internet, and trash collection) through May (to be extended depending on the length of the crisis).
Suspension of all I.C.E. enforcement, the immediate release of all detainees from I.C.E. facilities, and the closure of immigration courts.
The furlough of prisoners and, until the furlough, immediate provision of necessary healthcare and sanitation facilities and supplies to prisoners.
Universal basic income.
Immediate forgiveness of all student-loan debt.
Immediate access to quality medical care for all regardless of the ability to pay.

UNITED RENTERS FOR JUSTICE

United Renters for Justice / Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia is an a tenants rights movement out based in Minneapolis working to reclaim the rights of tenants for justice housing and provide resources to organize direct actions against evictions.

Their organization is formed predominantly by people of color and their members decide how to best address serious repair issues, rent increases, retaliation, and evictions in their communities at the hands of landlords and residential property owners.

For nearly a decade they’ve been working on a community housing initiative called Sky Without Limits and have provided a useful timeline of their recent victory starting from 2011.

In addition to a rent strike, they also advocate a debt strike as a strategy to housing justice, including:

Stopping all evictions and displacement
Securing rent control
Establishing community ownership
Building tenant cooperatives
Ensuring racial justice

HOUSING JUSTICE FOR ALL

Housing Justice For All is one of the many organizations around the nation calling to put an immediate end to rent. In addition to calling for universal rent control, investments in social housing, and the taxation of the super-rich, HJFA offers a list of demands for what canceling rent could look like:

Canceling rent is universal and not subject to tenants providing proof or documentation of loss of income. There is no transfer of funds or need to apply. It's a universal cancellation of rent.
This must last for a minimum of 90 days after the state of emergency ends.
Full and automatic forgiveness of all utilities including electricity, gas, water, sewage, or internet for the duration of the crisis. No late fees, surcharges, price gouging to collect higher rates, or arrears may be sent to or collected by debt collection agencies.
To protect renters long-term, all forms of rent hikes must be disallowed.
All tenants must have the right to renew their lease during this crisis.

BEYOND RECOVERY

Beyond Recovery is a project of the Right To The City Alliance behind a new petition demanding to cancel rent, cancel mortgages, and cancel debt all across the nation.

The Right To The City Alliance emerged in 2007 as a unified response to gentrification and a call to halt the displacement of low-income people, people of color, marginalized LGBTQ communities, and youths of color from their historic urban neighborhoods. The RTTC is a national alliance of racial, economic and environmental justice organizations.

Here’s what Beyond Recovery is demanding:

One. We want a future free from debt.

Two. We want a future with safe, dignified and cage-free shelter and sanctuary and homes for all.

Three. We want a future where utilities vital to our personal and collective health are guaranteed.

Four. We want a future where our work is valued and protected. Guarantee unemployment, sick-time and paid leave, health care, safety and protections for workers, and a living-wage for all.

You can sign the petition here and view their comprehensive Beyond Recovery Toolkit here.

Evictions during the pandemic

Although most state and local governments aren’t holding in-person eviction hearings during the pandemic, they’re still continuing with evictions — via Zoom calls — like this Zoom eviction in Collins County, Texas.

In March of 2020, the federal government issued a limited moratorium on evictions in federally-assisted housing and for properties with federally backed mortgages — leaving the remaining 70% of rental housing to be decided on the state and city level.

Along with enhanced unemployment benefits, on July 24th, those protections expired and currently residents in 30 states lack state-level protections against eviction during the pandemic.

The Eviction Lab is the first nationwide database of evictions. Using their maps you can find out how many evictions happen in your community. Create custom maps, charts, and reports. Share facts with your neighbors and elected officials.

Data gathered by Princeton’s Eviction Lab suggest that at least one million tenants are evicted each year in renter households between 2000 and 2016.

Screen Shot 2020-08-12 at 9.46.57 AM.png — **Just Shelter**

The Just Shelter project amplifies the work of community organizations working to preserve affordable housing, prevent eviction, and reduce family homelessness and allow you to track resources based on search on a state and city level.

Data gathered by Berkley’s interactive Evictions Study project shows that in Baltimore Black eviction removals are 3 times higher (195% more) than the white eviction count (4,775 Black evictions vs. 1,614 White evictions).

Similarly, in Boston, 70% of market-rate evictions filed were in Black and Latinx communities, despite the fact that those areas make up approximately half of the city’s rental market.

Case studies in Milwaukee report that women from Black neighborhoods made up only 9.6% of the city’s population but accounted for 30% of evicted tenants.

In a study on legal discrimination in eviction cases between 2004 and 2014, 80 percent of the tenants facing eviction identified as Black and/or Latinx.

The 7 Stage Eviction Process

In the state of California landlords must follow a series of steps in order to legally evict a tenant.

Step 1: Notice to the Tenant

The landlord must first give the tenant written notice. If the tenant does not do what the notice asks, they can file an unlawful detainer case in court when the notice period ends. There are several types of eviction notices that pass as legal documents.
If there is no one home to leave the papers with, the landlord must place the notice to the front door or somewhere where it can be seen easily and send a copy by mail to the tenant at the property.

Step 2: Eviction Forms

The plaintiff is usually the owner or landlord, or the management company if its name is on the lease. Sometimes the plaintiff may be a person who is subletting to another tenant. For example, a tenant renting a house from the landlord may rent a room to another person, and that person would be a subtenant.

Step 3: Complaint Filed with the Court

The landlord and tenant may have to pay a court filing fee. If you cannot afford a filing fee, you can ask for a fee waiver. If the court approves the fee waiver request, you will not have to pay the fees. Depending on who wins the lawsuit and collects money, the court may ask for the waived fees

Step 4: Papers Served to the Tenant

The landlord gives the tenant the Summons and Complaint in person. If the tenant will not take the papers, the landlord can tell the tenant that he or she is being served and leave the papers as close to the tenant as possible.

Step 5: Tenant Can Choose to Respond to the Complaint

If the tenant was served in person, the tenant has 5 days to respond not including Saturdays, Sundays, or court holidays.

Step 6: The Eviction Trial

About a week after the landlord files the Request to Set Case for Trial, the court clerk will mail the landlord and the tenant information with the exact date, time and location of the trial. The trial will take place within 20 days. At any point during the process of getting ready for trial, or even the same day of trial, the landlord and the tenant may be able to work out an agreement and settle the case. If that happens, you will not need the trial.

Step 7: Appealing the Case After the Judgment

Once the judge makes a decision at the trial, there is a court judgment. Either side can appeal if they are not happy with any part of the judge's order. Or they can file a motion to set aside (cancel) the judge's order. There are strict deadlines to do this, and the side appealing needs a legally valid reason to do it.