On the Home Front

When people struggle to pay rent, every aspect of their lives is harder. While much of the housing crisis debate focuses on increasing housing supply, building more units alone will not fix our broken housing system. Robust tenant protections are needed to address the power imbalance between landlords and tenants that fuels racial inequity and puts renters at increased risk of housing instability, harassment, eviction, and homelessness.

Launched on June 25, the National Tenants Bill of Rights is a practical, comprehensive policy agenda that affirms the government’s duty to provide all renters with basic protections from abusive and predatory landlords. This policy agenda was developed in partnership with tenants, organizers, and housing justice advocates from across the country in an effort led by NLIHC, the National Housing Law Project, and the Tenant Union Federation. Governments at any level – federal, state, or local – can use the agenda as a roadmap for ensuring our nation’s 114 million tenants have a stable, safe, and healthy home.

The National Tenants Bill of Rights sets out seven essential rights that establish a baseline of tenant protections in the rental housing market. These include the rights to:

• A Fair Application.
• A Fair Lease.
• Freedom from Discrimination and Harassment.
• A Habitable Home.
• Reasonable Rent and Costs.
• Organize.
• Safeguards Against Evictions.

Tenant leaders and advocates across the nation have long fought and won many of the policy solutions outlined in the National Tenants Bill of Rights. The agenda builds on their historic and effective leadership. In recent years more than 300 tenant protections have been enacted or implemented at the state and local level, representing a major victory for renters in these communities. Without federal protections, however, this patchwork of state and local measures leaves millions more tenants without the basic protections they need to remain stably housed. Furthermore, decades of tenant organizing have also shown that policies are only as good as their enforcement. Strengthening and enforcing robust federal tenant protections through a National Tenants Bill of Rights will ensure all tenants are protected regardless of where they live.

Our current housing system is broken. Rent prices far outpace incomes, and there is a severe shortage of homes affordable to the lowest-income people. As more tenants are pushed to the brink, eviction filings are increasing along with rates of homelessness. In most parts of the country, a landlord can evict a tenant for no reason and with only a few days’ notice, thrusting them into the brutal housing market. With few options available, tenants are forced to endure egregious rent increases, landlord harassment, and unsafe living conditions. This precarity is amplified for tenants of color, disabled tenants, families with children, and older tenants, whose rental housing options are limited by historical segregation and present-day discrimination.

Everyone has a role to play in rebalancing the power between tenants and landlords, advancing racial equity, and achieving housing justice. Whether you are a tenant, homeowner, housing provider, advocacy or service organization, elected official, or candidate for office, you can:

1. Endorse the National Tenants Bill of Rights.
2. Share the National Tenants Bill of Rights with your network.
3. Show your support on social media, sharing your story about why tenants deserve rights. Use the hashtags #ProtectTenants and #TenantsBillofRights.
4. Urge your elected officials to advance these tenant protections at the local, state, and national levels.

We thank the many tenants whose direct experiences with housing instability have shaped this policy agenda and whose tireless organizing and advocacy will see it through to enactment across the country!