Tenants’ Strongest Weapon: The Rent Strike
Do you feel like your landlord holds all the power while you are powerless? Learn to take the leverage you do have into your own hands and win the fight against landlord abuse and neglect.
ACTA maintains a rent strike fund to support Chicago tenants who are on strike. If you are considering going on strike with your tenant union, contact us for more information about the fund.
If you would like to contribute to the rent strike fund, click the link below.
A Rent Strike is a powerful economic action tenants can take by holding onto their rent, keeping it until landlords agree to a set of demands.
The Rent Strike levels the playing field
When you go up against your landlord, you need all the leverage you can get. Your landlord only cares about your rent check. If you hold onto that rent, you can force the landlord to treat you as an equal party. If you’re still paying rent, he has no reason to negotiate, make repairs, or treat you with basic respect. Landlords know the rules of the game and they use their leverage to keep tenants meek and compliant. It’s time for tenants to start using the leverage they have to level the playing field.
The Rent Strike is collective
One tenant alone can only withhold a little bit of rent, not much for most landlords. But if the entire building goes on strike? Suddenly that’s a much bigger sum of money the landlord has to consider. If you’re considering a rent strike, talk to your neighbors and form a tenant union. With a strong tenant union you can also write up a clear set of demands.
The Rent Strike is the most powerful weapon available for tenants.
The Rent Strike is not:
- A formal rent withholding sanctioned by the RLTO, where you’re counting on the landlord to play nice.
- A remedy where tenants hand off their own power to representatives and lawyers, to fight the fight where the landlord is most comfortable.
- An individual action in the court based on individual problems.
The Rent Strike is:
- A powerful tool tenants can use to force the landlord to negotiate whether he wants to or not.
- A strategy which uses the power tenants already have. No more passing power off to lawyers and elected officials. The power is in your pocket.
- A collective action which draws on strength in numbers and a unified force.
Frequently Asked Questions
So I get to live in my apartment for free?
No, you should save all of the money you would be paying for rent in case you are required to pay it back later. This rent is your leverage if the landlord thinks that money is long gone, he won’t want to give you your demands.
Remember: your goal is to make it cost the landlord more to ignore your union than to negotiate with you.
Are Rent Strikes illegal?
No. Rent strikes are not illegal. If the landlord wants to get the rent money or the apartment back from you, he can take you eviction court for nonpayment. In Chicago, tenants have the right to pay the back rent plus filing fees and have their eviction case dropped, making it relatively low risk.
Taking tenants to court is very expensive for a landlord to do, especially if it is a large group of unionized tenants. The strategy of the rent strike is to make him decide it is not worth the risk and expense to go to court and give you your demands.
How many tenants do I need to go on strike?
There is no hard and fast answer to this question, but the All-Chicago Tenant Alliance can help you make an educated estimate. You will need to compare the cost of giving you your demands to the cost the landlord would incur by attempting to break the strike. It is also smart to begin looking at other apartments the landlord owns. Tenants there may have the same problems and can be convinced to join the strike.
Isn’t that a lot of work?
It is, but we find that the process meeting neighbors, strategizing, and standing up for yourself is extremely rewarding. Landlords will keep pushing tenants around, neglecting apartments until conditions become dangerous, and kicking people out on the street until people begin to stand for their own human dignity. If you agree that it’s time for a change, ACTA will be right behind you to help share the effort.
More questions about how to form a union and go on rent strike?