10 Reasons to Start a Tenant Association
1. STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
A landlord's power over tenants comes from tenants feeling alone and afraid. It is difficult to demand your rights when you feel alone. The first reason for forming an association is that doing so will help to counter the fear that comes from feeling like the landlord has all the power. When you are in an association, you are surrounded by other people in the same position who can provide you with support. It is easier to feel empowered when you are fighting alongside others.
2. MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS
Forming a tenants association helps to strengthen the community in your apartment building. A tenants association is a way to meet people united by the same cause. The connections that you make could lead to new and empowering friendships and relationships. Even in buildings where there is a history of conflict between neighbors, defending yourselves against an abusive landlord or protecting your housing against displacement can be a powerful way to heal and come together.
3. STRENGTHEN YOUR COMMUNITY
Forming a tenants association demonstrates that a community is stronger when it is united. Having an association in your building will help you to protect the identity and spirit of a community that is threatened by gentrification. The more people in the neighborhood that are united in associations and members of the Ann Arbor Tenants Union, the more people can lean on each other in the fight for tenants' rights.
4. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
As an association member, you may find it easier to bargain with a landlord. "Collective bargaining" is when a group of people joins together in order to increase their negotiating power. One hundred tenants advocating for lower rent, necessary repairs, or against harassment will have far more power than one tenant advocating for the same thing. Demands coming from a tenants association are much more likely to be granted than people acting by themselves. So, the easiest way to get your landlord to do what you want would be to form a tenants association.
5. PUBLIC PRESSURE
An association has a greater ability to put public pressure on officials and landlords. One person conducting a rent strike to protest unfair treatment by the landlord probably will not attract the attention of public officials. And one tenant protesting may make that person vulnerable to retaliation from the landlord. However, ten or even two hundred households conducting a protest rent strike will get the attention of the local government and the press. Local officials keep public pressure in mind when making decisions for the community.
6. EASIER TO RETAIN LEGAL COUNSEL
When you are connected with a tenants association, you have greater access to legal resources. Lawyers who specialize in tenant cases are easier to contact through an association representative. Lawyers are more likely to take a case when they know that they are also forming a valuable relationship with a tenants association, as opposed to with an individual. Often lawyers are more willing to take on a case if they know they have the support of a group of united tenants.
7. EASIER AND QUICKER TO PLAN AN EFFECTIVE LEGAL STRATEGY
From a lawyer's perspective, working with a tenants association makes planning a case much easier. Witnesses, documents, and other evidence might apply to more than one case in the same building. Your lawyer can often prepare the cases for all the association members together, which makes planning more efficient. Other people from the association who are members of the Ann Arbor Tenants Union can also provide support, and it is easy for your legal counsel to contact them when planning a case.
8. ATTORNEY CLIENT PRIVILEGE
Michigan Compiled Laws § 767.5a(2) and Federal Rule of Evidence 502 protect specific legal communications between you, your lawyer, and your agents. When preparing your case, communications between you, your lawyer, and Ann Arbor Tenants Union representatives may be protected under these laws. This means that you may be able to communicate more freely with other association members, Ann Arbor Tenants Union representatives, and your attorney when developing your legal strategy if you engage in a joint representation agreement with other association members and organizers.
9. PROTECTION FROM RETALIATION
According to Michigan Compiled Laws § 600.5720, it is illegal for a landlord to retaliate or threaten to retaliate against you for joining or participating in a tenants association. By joining a tenants association, you have greater protections under Michigan law when you exercise your rights and stand up for yourself. If a landlord does retaliate against members of a tenants association by issuing a notice to quit or by some other form of harassment, the tenants can choose to sue for retaliation under Michigan Compiled Laws § 600.5720.
10. FREEDOM OF SPEECH, ASSEMBLY, AND THE RIGHT TO MAKE PUBLIC DEMANDS COLLECTIVELY
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects everyone engaging in the freedom of speech or assembly, including a wide variety of union activities and even public protest. When you join a tenants association, the United States Constitution protects your right to free speech and your right to association (with limits). Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights also guarantees rights to people who express their opinions through a tenant's association, although generally courts in the United States do not enforce this part of international law.