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

Activists in the Twin Cities have organized for a rent strike to begin on March 1. Learn more about the action and why they've called for it in the linked episode of the Majority Report. The relevant interview starts at about 24:00 into the podcast. I've also got the direct org link below.

#ICE #Minneapolis #TwinCities #Solidarity #RentStrike #Minnesota #Resist #Fascism

https://majorityfm.libsyn.com/3588-tenant-strike-not-just-a-vibecession-w-isi-breen-yusra-murad-mike-konczal

https://twincitiestenants.org/

This is really cool. It looks like #Minneapolis is trying to get a #rentStrike going to start March 1st, demanding ICE out, #rentRelief, and a moratorium on evictions.

https://twincitiestenants.org/

#TwinCitiesRentStrike

#NakedCapitalism

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/02/twin-cities-unions-planning-largest-us-rent-strike-in-100-years-as-ice-occupation-drives-eviction-crisis.html

#RentStrike #MN #Minnesota

#TwinCities Unions Planning ‘Largest US #RentStrike in 100+ Years’ as #ICEOccupation Drives #EvictionCrisis

“Tenants in #Minnesota are in a crisis,” said #Minneapolis City Council Member #AishaChughtai. “The federal invasion forced many of our neighbors to stay home and devastated our #LocalEconomy.”

Stephen Prager, Feb 17, 2026

"Tenant and labor unions in Minneapolis and St. Paul have announced plans to carry out what they said would be the 'largest rent strike in the United States in the last 100 years.'

"Beginning on #March1, if Democratic Minnesota Gov. #TimWalz does not meet their urgent demands for an #EvictionMoratorium and #RentRelief, a coalition of nearly 26,000 workers has pledged to withhold rent, which they said could create a massive economic disruption.

"The plans were announced on Tuesday by the tenants union #TwinCitiesTenants, which is joined by five labor unions: Service Employees International Union (#SEIU) Local 26, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota/Iowa, UNITE HERE Local 17, the Amalgamated Transit Union (#ATU) 1005, and Communication Workers of America (#CWA) 7250.

"They argued that a freeze on rents is desperately needed after 'nearly three months of federal occupation' under President Donald #Trump’s '#OperationMetroSurge,' which sent nearly 3,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE) and other immigration agents to the area, resulting in multiple fatal shootings and a wave of #CivilRights violations, including explicit #RacialProfiling."

Read more / listen:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/minnesota-rent-strike-ice

#USPol #AbolishICE #AbolishDHS #ICEOut #ICEOutForGood #Strike

Twin Cities #Unions Planning ‘Largest US Rent Strike in 100+ Years’ as ICE Occupation Drives Eviction Crisis
“Tenants in Minnesota are in a crisis,” said Minneapolis City Council Member Aisha Chughtai. “The federal invasion forced many of our neighbors to stay home and devastated our local economy.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/minnesota-rent-strike-ice

from #CommonDreams
Feb. 17, 2026

Tenant and #LaborUnions in Minneapolis and St. Paul have announced plans to carry out what they said would be the “largest #RentStrike in the United States in the last 100 years.”

Beginning on March 1, if Democratic #Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz does not meet their urgent demands for an eviction moratorium and rent relief, a coalition of nearly 26,000 #workers has pledged to withhold rent, which they said could create a massive economic disruption.

#news #politics #USpol

@RAHU

“T he people of #Minneapolis and St. Paul have shown the way, fighting a federal invasion and caring for their neighbors; their fight and their care continue in this historic #rentstrike,” said Tara Raghuveer, director of the Tenant #Union Federation.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/minnesota-rent-strike-ice

#evictions #ICEout #landlords #Rent