#Toronto

Toronto Tenants Union

May 9th Organizer Orientation

#housing #tenantsrights #tenantsunion

https://www.tenantunion.ca/orientation

👋 🇨🇦 Here's an excellent idea -- Imagine what could be accomplished if every community decided to organize across the country 👍

"Organizing at a citywide level could also help tenants push for broader policy changes, Shaw said, adding that tenants need a group “advocating on the big stage.”

#Toronto #Ontario #Canada
#Housing #Renting #Finances
#TenantsUnion

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-tenants-union-9.7166868

Maine Court Slams Landlords, Confirms Rent Control Laws Initiated by Maine DSA

On March 18, a Maine Superior Court judge summarily rejected the latest attempt by landlords to gut Portland’s rent control law and stifle the power of tenant unions. In fact, in her sweeping decision, Justice Darcie McElwee solidified rent control’s power to keep rents affordable in Maine’s largest city in a way many of us have been fighting for since it was enacted. 

This is a big moment, and Portland administrators, as well as those looking to confront the housing affordability crisis across the state (I’m looking at you, candidates for governor), should take notice.

Here’s the story: The landlord in this case – the notorious Geoffrey Rice, who lost a three-year court battle to break the tenant union of which I am a founding member – filed an appeal to overturn a recent rent board ruling that had forced him to roll back rents three years, reimburse hundreds of thousands of dollars in tenant overcharges, and pay $170,500 in fines. Mr. Rice made six arguments, all of which Justice McElwee tossed out.

The first was that the rent board, an administrative body appointed by the City Council, didn’t even have the legal right to adjudicate the case. This argument, made by many landlords, is that the city permitting office is the place to decide these matters. If tenants don’t like what the city says, they can go to court. Obviously, that’s a costly process that few tenants can afford, which is why landlords want it that way.

Rice also argued that the rent control ordinance is too vague. We often hear this from landlords who are still furious that tenants wrote and passed this law through citizen initiative, without their corporate lobbyists at the table.

On these two arguments, the judge ruled decisively. Yes, of course the rent board can hear these cases, and no, in fact, the ordinance is not vague. It is crystal clear.

Satisfying though these two rulings may have been, they weren’t the most important. Those were the precedent-setting rulings that tenant unions have standing to file complaints on behalf of any and all tenants, and that landlords who are serial violators of rent control lose the right to raise rents on any tenants until they clean up their act.

These two points are ones tenant rights activists in Portland have argued for years, both in front of the rent board and to the city of Portland.

On the first point, the landlords have always argued that a tenant union should only be able to represent tenants who officially disclose their membership in the union (about 30 of the over-150 tenants signed this formal complaint). The first problem with that, of course, is that many tenants fear retaliation if they openly confront their landlord. The second is that the law makes clear that getting a tenant’s permission is not a requirement, just as it would not be a requirement to get a tenant’s consent before reporting a landlord-created fire hazard.

The judge saw through the landlord’s argument immediately, simply quoting the text of the ordinance, “[a]ny Tenants Union shall have standing as a party to assert the rights or interests of any Tenants.”

On the second point, the issue is whether a landlord loses the right to raise any rents when they are a serial offender, or whether they must only pay back increases on the units where the violations occurred. But the latter is obviously no penalty at all. It is simply a requirement that the landlord pay back what they have stolen.

Imagine the run on banks if the law was, “those who rob a bank and get caught will only have to pay back what you stole.” No jail time. No fines. Heck, we’d all give it a shot.

Thankfully, the judge saw through this one too. Serial violators may indeed be forced to forfeit all rent increases. The city has been reluctant to implement this interpretation in the past. Hopefully that now changes.

Last, but not least, the judge reminded all of us why this law is here by quoting its stated purpose:

“…to address increasing rental costs within the City of Portland; to promote neighborhood and community stability; to protect the City’s tenant population; to limit arbitrary evictions; and to stabilize and make more predictable future rent increases…”

Having helped write those words six years ago, it was a good reminder even to me. Protecting Portland as an affordable place for everyone to live is paramount to our city’s survival. 

This judge did her part. Now the city must do theirs by enforcing this precedent setting ruling. And the next governor must pass similar protections for tenants statewide.

***

This story was originally published by The Beacon, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from the Beacon, sign up for the free Beacon newsletter here.

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#θεσσαλονοικι #tenantsunion #tenantsunionskg #ηστεγηειναιδικαιωμα 🙆

Yesterday evening, our members spoke with residents at Mount Suir Apartments about our upcoming residents meeting today, Thursday 29th at 6pm in Carrickphierish Library - if you are a resident, come along!

There was a lot of interest and our members again saw first-hand some of the horrible conditions these residents are forced to live in.

Join CATU: https://catuireland.org/join

#HousingCrisis #Waterford #MountSuirApartments #TenantsUnion #Homes #Ireland #Housing #Tenants #Tenant #TenantsRights