The housing crisis is not a glitch. Fighting it takes a network. Here are the organizations building tenant power in Buffalo.

When facing eviction, code violations, or landlord harassment, the current system relies heavily on tenants feeling isolated. Property owners frequently bank on the fact that an individual renter might lack the resources or the knowledge to fight back alone. A highly effective way to counter that isolation is through organized, cross-community solidarity.
The Rising Tide Fellowship operates within a broader ecosystem of groups working to build working-class power in Western New York. Building a functional defense network means connecting legal aid, mutual aid, and direct action into a cohesive front.
Our digital headquarters serves as a directory to connect you directly with these mission-aligned organizations. While we do not maintain formal or official corporate partnerships with these entities, we consider them vital allies bound by a shared commitment to community sovereignty.
This directory includes legal resources like Neighborhood Legal Services, the Western New York Law Center, and HOME. It also links to on-the-ground organizing groups like the Queen City Workers Center, PUSH Buffalo, and Black Love Resists in the Rust (which is currently sunsetting its operations and not taking on new missions, but remains a highly respected part of our local organizing history).
If you are looking to get involved, or if you are currently facing a hostile property owner and want backup, connecting with the groups already doing the work on the ground is a great first step. You can find direct links to these local allies in our directory.
Link: https://linktr.ee/rtfe
#Buffalo #TenantPower #Solidarity #WorkingClass #MutualAid #BuffaloNY #RisingTide #Anarchism #QCWC #PUSHBuffalo #HousingJustice

Stop begging for repairs. How Buffalo tenants are using Article 7-D and pocket escrows to fight back.

With roughly 20,000 people facing eviction proceedings in Buffalo recently, and tens of thousands more dealing with severe neglect, the scale of predatory housing is staggering. Many corporate property owners treat our neighborhoods as extraction portfolios while treating residents as disposable income streams.
Under New York State law (Article 7-D), tenants possess the power to affirmatively sue their landlords for repairs and rent abatements. Instead of waiting for an eviction notice to defend yourself, you can take the offensive. A key tactic in this process is the "pocket escrow." Rather than paying a neglectful owner, a tenant places their rent money into a separate, dedicated savings account. This keeps the funds secure and ready to produce in court when a judge asks for proof of funds, protecting the tenant while stopping the flow of profit to the slumlord.
We highly recommend securing legal representation before taking these steps. Buffalo is home to excellent resources like the Western New York Law Center, Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Neighborhood Legal Services, Center for Elder Law & Justice, and the Volunteer Lawyers Project. However, with the sheer volume of housing cases, these organizations frequently reach capacity. When free legal aid is full, tenants can explore private contingency firms or prepare to file pro se (representing yourself).
Individual lawsuits are a start, but true leverage comes from collective numbers. Building a citywide tenant union provides the power to pass strong Good Cause Eviction protections, similar to the blueprint recently established in Rochester. Part of this fight is redefining the narrative. A true "small landlord" is an individual who lives in one half of a duplex and rents out the other unit. An owner renting out a non-owner-occupied single-family home, or an owner-occupied triplex, is operating a real estate portfolio.
The Rising Tide Fellowship is helping neighbors navigate these systems step-by-step. Check out our Linktree to connect with our network, find direct links to free legal aid providers, and link up with allied organizations building tenant power across the city.
Link: https://linktr.ee/rtfe
#Buffalo #TenantPower #HousingJustice #Article7D #RentStrike #BuffaloNY #MutualAid #GoodCauseEviction #RisingTide #Anarchism #WorkingClass

We are halfway to the goal! After years of vigilance, this struggle finally gave me COVID—and trying to maintain the "perfectly OK" mask for job applications while being unsheltered and sick has been the performance of a lifetime.

But your support has changed the math.

The Timeline

• Tonight: Securing a spot in a winter shelter or AirBnB in Pittsburgh. Hopefully I can get the $105 loan I need to get the place tonight.
• Tomorrow: GoFundMe initiates disbursement. Then I go find a place to live for a month!

I have one more day of active fundraising because things have gotten worse with my current "host." Thank you for believing in me when it was hardest to believe in myself. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

https://gofund.me/f964919f0

#COVID19 #MutualAid #Pittsburgh #Disability #Disabled #Homelessness #Unsheltered #JobSearch #LateStageCapitalism #Spoonie #SurvivalMode #MutualAidRequest #HousingJustice

I see.

So when I was first arrived in Pittsburgh, I was surprised to discover I'd been denied transitional housing. Despite the fact that everything seemed OK. There was only one reason for my denial: my emotional support dog.

The reasoning? "Other participants could possibly have allergies."

My actual, immediate homelessness and safety are ranked lower than the hypothetical discomfort of another person.

To manage the PTSD that paralyzes me, I need my dog. But to get the housing I need to survive, I must destroy the very thing that allows me to function. The "greater good" requires a sacrifice, and that sacrifice is me. To the system, it could be anyone; and it chose me because it does not care whom it devours. Just that it gets to crunch on what's left of someone hollowed out of soul.

I told the intake coordinator this, and I'll tell you too:

I can't wait to be rich enough that I'm worthy of being judged by the quality of my character again, and not just by the immediacy of my need. Because even this "pro-trans" group did it, so it's a universal issue.

Being poor means every door is locked until you agree to cut off a piece of yourself to fit through the slot. I am so tired of bleeding for people who don't give a shit about me.

Oh yeah, I was angry and forgot to put the link up. Thank you for listening on this one, though. 💙

https://www.gofundme.com/f/ellis-emergency-fund

#HousingJustice #DisabilityRights #Homelessness #SystemicFailure #Bureaucracy #Pittsburgh #Ableism #MutualAid #TransCrowdfund #Poverty #ActuallyAutistic

Governments are finally pushing back — another Aussie city is cracking down on Airbnb and short-term rentals, forcing investors to rethink the “easy money” model.
Property should be for homes, not profit-machines. These reforms show that some leaders are prioritising the long-term housing needs of people, not just the wealthy few who view homes as cash cows.

#housingjustice #rentersrights #airbnbcrackdown #policychange #rentalcrisisaustralia #rentalcrisis #housingcrisis
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/another-aussie-city-flags-airbnb-crackdown-forcing-investors-to-rethink-short-term-rentals-040021379.html

Victoria is once again leading the way in putting people ahead of the wealthy few. From tomorrow renters in Victoria will benefit from stronger protections: a ban on no-fault evictions, a ban on rental bidding (so tenants don’t have to compete like auction bidders), longer notice periods for rent increases and property changes, and minimum standards for rental homes.
These reforms remind us that government can serve the many — not just the privileged minority who own property. I woild be proud to live in a state taking that message seriously. You won't be reading about this in the Murdoch controlled msm.

#housingjustice #renterprotections #victoria #rentalcrisis #rentalcrisisaustralia

https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/millions-of-aussie-renters-get-a-boost-as-new-rules-come-into-effect-tomorrow-a-real-difference-180057666.html