Confronting the Housing Crisis-Covering the Rhode Island Tenants' Bill of Rights (TBOR) Campaign:
Rhode Island's Chance to Lead the Fight Against Homelessness in America.
Could Rhode Island become a national leader in addressing the housing crisis and homelessness in America?
As a member of Reclaim Rhode Island, while I have my own stake on this cause, I also have the opportunity to witness and see the opportunity presented in the work this great local organization is doing.
Rhode Island has been in the middle of a years-long housing crisis. It has not been helped by political interference and administrative incompetence at the RI Housing agency when Gina Raimondo was in Rhode Island politics. Housing supply construction and state investments in affordable housing were grossly neglected for years under the Raimondo Administration and state government as a whole prior to the coronavirus pandemic that exposed this problem entirely.
During the pandemic, more people became homeless, and the housing crunch started to run deep. Now, Rhode Island has dealt with an expensive housing market that has hit hard for poor Rhode Islanders. Along with the elimination of housing assistance, including the federal eviction moratorium, more people were forced to leave their homes.
This is a true housing crisis. And although Rhode Island is at the epicenter of it for many reasons, it is a problem everyone across the country is dealing with.
Fortunately, there has been some progress in recent years. RI House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi has become a key leader in promoting affordable housing efforts at the state level, churning a machine of legislation featuring input from leadership and rank-and-file progressives alike.
A large part of the housing push on the grassroots level has come from Reclaim RI, which is now leading a bold, ambitious push for a Tenants’ Bill of Rights for the 2024 legislative session, which has allowed me to personally see the extraordinary talent and hard work of the group’s staff.
The Tenants’ Bill of Rights (TBOR) is not a uniform single piece of legislation. It is actually a handful of bills the Rhode Island General Assembly will be considering. It includes laws providing the right to be evicted only by a Just Cause with a clear reason provided for that eviction, the right to have counsel to an attorney, the right to live in habitable conditions as landlords are required to provide, the right to organize tenant unions for the purpose of improving housing conditions, and the right for tenants to be notified of code violations on their properties.
Some people might ask from this, why would a Tenants’ Bill of Rights be needed? Isn’t it effectively guaranteed in our society? What’s the point?
Well, in Rhode Island, it is not that clear cut. A number of good landlords do follow the rules, which should not be underappreciated enough. Not every landlord is bad, just as not every single tenant is good.
But it is not always the case that all landlords abide by the rules. In fact, many slumlords, especially corporate landlords, do not treat tenants and renters well. Furthermore, the real estate industry responsible for kicking tenants out is very influential in Rhode Island, and many attorneys actually make a considerable amount of money defending wealthier, corporate slumlords against tenants in these various areas.
That is why a Tenants’ Bill of Rights is being proposed to address issues like tenant union busting, no cause evictions, the lack of counsel to an attorney (sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it?), the lack of notification to legal actions on code violations, and deteriorating housing conditions on the part of the landlord.
It is not an unfamiliar issue here either. Close neighbors and friends my family know had to deal with a slumlord in practice who neglected housework and scammed his tenants and renters. In fact, it caused quite a stir in the neighborhood as a whole, and required action from one of the city agencies in Providence on the matter of trash disposal.
It is one thing to propose an idea, but can it become action? It is too early to tell the final results, but it is clear both sides are taking the issue seriously and really considering it. Reclaim RI is doing its part to win public support and make its appeal to state lawmakers to look at the many upsides of TBOR being enacted in full. Reclaim’s collaboration with housing advocacy organizations and housing policy reformers across the state, and its incorporation of grassroots organizing with aspiring tenant unions, like one at a housing complex in the low-income neighborhood of Elmwood, has bolstered its momentum and commitment to getting it across the finish line. Just as there is fervent opposition from slumlords, there is also real support across the state for TBOR.
As a new Reclaim RI member, I have personally seen the grit and determination of the group’s leaders, who have worked their hardest to inspire true debate on the issues, and spotlight real challenges facing our state today.
That work has already garnered real attention on local news outlets like The Boston Globe, The Providence Journal, and WPRI 12.
While it is not over, and not the only solution, TBOR could definitely make Rhode Island a national leader and offer a pathway to alleviate the housing crisis that impacts so many households and families across the country today.
Join us at a TBOR rally to be announced later this month.
