Tenant rights
can either refer to the rights tenants enjoy by law, or to the movement to acquire such rights. Tenant rights generally seek to protect renters from landlord neglect and unfair eviction , as well as secure fair, affordable housing.
Laws dealing with the landlord tenant relationship vary greatly from state to state. These laws may provide some or all of the following for tenants:
* remedies for bad conditions
* privacy protections
* protection from landlord retaliation
* protection from exorbitant rent increases
* protection for the right to organize
When a group of tenants feel they are being unfairly treated by a landlord, they may community organizing/organize a tenant union. In the U.S. the right to do so is protected by federal law , and the EU also ensures the right to form a tenant union .
Peoples' organizations, such as ACORN , as well as many state and local groups can help renters organize a tenant union. Free legal advice can often be obtained from the local legal aid agencies.
External links
:* Fair Housing -- It's Your Right
* Ontario Tenants Rights Canada
* Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
:* Housing Discrimination Complaints
:* Housing Discrimination: Fair Housing Regional Offices
Further reading
* Haas, Janay Ann. . 248 pages. Self-Counsel Press, 7th edition, March 24, 2004. ISBN 1551804298.
* Moskovitz, Myron et al. . 272 pages. Nolo.com, 15th edition, January 1, 2001. ISBN 0873376447.
* Sember, Brette McWhorter. . 225 pages. Sphinx Publishing, May 1, 2000. ISBN 1572481226.
* Lawson, Robert and Mark Naison, editors. . Rutgers University Press. Hardback: ISBN 0-8135-1203-4. Cloth: ISBN 0-8135-1158-5.
:* The Landlord as Czar: Pre-World War I Tenant Activity
:* New York City Tenant Organizations and the Post-World War I Housing Crisis
:* From Eviction Resistance to Rent Control: Tenant Activism in the Great Depression