Autonomous Tenants Union

COVID-19 Tenant Organizing Toolkit

March 2020

      I. Where we are

      II. What happens when you don’t pay rent

      III. Strategy

      IV. How to talk to your neighbors

      V. Organizing tools

The Autonomous Tenants Union (ATU) is an all-volunteer organization committed to organizing for housing justice from below and to the left. As an independent collective based in Chicago, we strategize together to defend and enforce our right to dignified housing. We believe that housing is a human right not a commodity! We fight for an end to all evictions, and for community control of housing through the building of popular power.

I. Where we are

We are in the middle of a public health catastrophe, during which everyone’s sole focus should be protecting themselves and their communities. But instead, many are worrying about rent. Chicagoans face layoffs and loss of income as workplaces around the country shutter to limit COVID-19’s spread, and one missed paycheck can mean a choice between groceries or rent, with a looming potential for homelessness.

Unstable housing is exacerbating this crisis. If tenants know that missing rent could result in eviction proceedings, they’ll be more likely to go to work with symptoms and risk getting others sick. Tenants forced to move face a higher risk of spreading and/or contracting the virus, along with difficulty securing new housing, renting moving trucks, hiring movers, or finding volunteers to help. It is our responsibility to protect each other. In the absence of compassionate leadership from our government, we must organize together to ensure our basic needs are met.

What we have going for us:

  1. No one wants to pay rent. Many of us can’t. A landlord’s financial power comes from their ability to collect rent. If a large enough number of tenants are unwilling — or in this case, unable — to pay rent, they gain some leverage over their landlord by depriving them of that income. There is an unfair stereotype that tenants who can’t pay rent are lazy or troublesome — this is untrue even in the best of times, but in times like this, the reality is that landlords across the country will find themselves without their monthly rent collection regardless of what we as tenants do.

  2. None of this is your fault. Others are in the same boat. In times of stress, hearing from others going through the same thing as you can be immensely reassuring. Our society tends to keep people in an unnatural state of isolation, but when you start talking to your neighbors you’ll probably find them relieved to share their experiences and hear they’re not alone. If that desire to connect to neighbors can be harnessed and organized, it will make a powerful force against the privileges landlords are granted in our legal system.

  3. The courts are delayed. Like in many places across the country, the Cook County Court has temporarily suspended the execution of evictions orders and all but entirely closed court proceedings until April 13 (this can change). Since court proceedings are almost entirely closed, if you fall behind on April rent and your landlord moves to evict you, they cannot begin court proceedings until the moratorium is over. Since eviction cases can last weeks if not months, you can be confident that even if you are unable to pay April rent you will not be physically evicted from your home for a couple months, or maybe even longer — and there are plenty of ways to fight the eviction in the meantime.

II. What happens when you don’t pay rent

Although some may try, it is illegal for a landlord to lock you out. The only person that can physically evict you is a sheriff, and the sheriff needs a court order! Read about what a lockout is here.

A landlord following the process correctly will serve you a “5 day notice” the day after rent is due or after any grace period they allow you. If you don’t pay the full amount in 5 days, the landlord can enter an eviction lawsuit against (remember, Cook County court filings are still open so they can open an eviction case against you, but they will not be able to pursue it until the moratorium is lifted).

You may feel a lot of stress when you get this notice. Just remember this is the beginning of the process. BUT, if you can negotiate an agreement before the landlord enters a lawsuit, you should make every effort to do that. This will save you the headache of having to go to court and find a lawyer.

Court process

III. Strategy

Our power is in our numbers! Whether your demands revolve around staying in your apartment, or getting more time to move, your strategy should be to negotiate a written agreement with the landlord by acting collectively (organizing) with your neighbors and support networks. You can fight to reach an agreement before the landlord files an eviction lawsuit, or during the lawsuit. Organizing will get the best results in either case.

Reaching an agreement before a lawsuit

Advantages

Risks

Reaching an agreement during a lawsuit

Advantages

Risks

REMEMBER: No matter if your objective is to reach an agreement before or during court, you can’t stop organizing. Organizing starts by talking to your neighbors.

IV. How to talk to your neighbors

Whether we are experiencing a public health crisis or not, the first step of tenant organizing is always talking to your neighbors. The best way to protect yourself and your neighbors against retaliation from your landlord in the future is to form a tenants union as soon as possible. We know from experience that we are always stronger together, and if tenants band together we are able to get huge concessions from landlords.

Note: Remember to wash your hands before and after leaving your unit, maintain six feet of distance when talking, and don’t leave your unit if you feel sick. Learn more about COVID-19 prevention here.

  1. Assess your situation. Will you be able to pay rent on April 1st? Do you already know any of your neighbors? If so, reach out to them first. Are any of them unlikely to be able pay? This information will help you as you contact other people in your building.

  2. Get contact information from your neighbors. Go door to door in your building, making sure to stand six feet back when your neighbor answers. If no one answers, you can also leave a note introducing yourself and sharing your contact information — here are templates you can use. When meeting someone for the first time, introduce yourself and ask questions to understand how they’ve been affected by the crisis. You should be open about your rent situation, but try to let them do most of the talking.

If they share your concerns, introduce the idea of acting collectively as a building. No matter how the conversation goes, be sure to get their contact information. If someone speaks a language you don’t speak, find a friend who does, or let ATU know and we may be able to help.

  1. Set up a group communication channel. This can be a group text, email thread, WhatsApp, a Facebook group, or whatever tenants are most comfortable with. If the group is multilingual, commit to translating the most important points for monolingual speakers. Google Translate is a good resource for quick translation.

  2. Check in with neighbors directly. As much as you can, call and text people individually to check on how they are doing and encourage them to participate. Talk to them about what they want, need, and have to offer others. Organizing is relationship building toward collective action. Try to share this work with other tenants.

  3. If necessary, schedule a meeting to vote on next steps. Although in-person meetings are not a good idea, tenants can still meet using Zoom, Google Hangouts or a conference call. Make sure to check in with the other tenants to make sure you choose a medium that they are comfortable with.

  4. Have the meeting. Remind everyone the day before and the day of the meeting. Do it both en masse and individually. You want as many tenants as possible to be involved.

Meeting tips:

TANC’s “Got Your Back Pledge” AKA “Strike Pledge”

“The basic idea: You plus any number of other tenants can’t or won’t pay rent. You get your fellow tenants to sign onto a “Got Your Back Pledge” letter that is then sent to the landlord. The letter notifies that landlord of the following:

Why we recommend this plan:

Other Issues to Organize Around

Even if you don’t feel confident you and your neighbors can act collectively around paying rent before April 1, there are other issues to organize around that might create the possibility for bigger commitments later.

For example, you and your neighbors can form a tenant union and demand the landlord extend tenants’ leases, install doorbells to make deliveries easier, make laundry free for the remainder of the crisis, or bar them from having realtors, inspectors or leasing agents hold walkthroughs during the pandemic. Even small, coordinated actions show your landlord that you’re organized and help to build trust among your neighbors.

V. Organizing tools

NOTE: It is important throughout this process to get all communication between you and your landlord in writing.

Templates

From TANC

Chicago-based resources:

Please note that the authors of this guide are not lawyers and this is not legal advice, except for any individual resource noted as produced by a legal aid organization. We are speaking from our experiences as organizers and tenants ourselves.


Retrieved on 2020-03-07 from docs.google.com