Capitol Hill Apartments tenants were already part of the first Denver unionizing effort aided by Denver Aurora Tenants United...and then the boiler went out.
, which advocates for housing dignity across the metro area. The tenants say they decided to form a union chapter because Avail hasn't been responsive to their complaints about maintenance issues ranging from stoves that don’t close and front doors that don’t lock to general neglect. And on November 3, when Denver had its first measurable snowfall, the heat wasn't working.
The closeness of the community showed on September 22, when people from 25 of the units in Blevins's building signed a letter that Denver Aurora Tenants United helped them draft, informing Avail of their new union and asking the company for prompt fixes of various problems as well as a meeting to help solve communication issues.
“We're all experienced community organizers, from various sectors of that work,” says DATU's Eliza Lucero. “We've come together, really, under the premise that housing is a human right, and we believe that tenants all across these areas deserve dignified and safe housing.” For example, Blevins's building has stairs, including one to the main entrance, and no elevators or chair lifts — so it's not in compliance with the regulations suggested by the wheelchair-accessible sticker on the sign for the building.
Blevins has worked in IT, and doesn’t understand why the company won't put an online rent-payment system in place. Maintenance requests can't be submitted by email, either; they must be given to a manager — but lately, managers either haven’t been on site or have been hiding in their offices. One day, Blevins recalls, someone knocked on the door of the manager’s office for so long that another staff member made the manager come out and speak to the resident.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
“Unfit for human use”: Evicted Grand Apartments tenants file colorful lawsuitEleven former residents of the closed and damaged Grand Apartments near Union Station have sued the building’s owner and manager, alleging they were wrongly evicted.
Read more »
Nearly 2,600 Apartments for Mentally Ill and Homeless People Sit VacantNEW YORK — Placing New York’s homeless and mentally ill in housing that comes with social services, a key to keeping people from living in the streets and subways, is proving to be a challenge for the city. Mayor Eric Adams has embraced these projects, and on Thursday announced the opening of two more. But figures the city released this week in response to a Freedom of Information Act request show that despite the intense demand for supportive housing apartments, nearly 2,600 of them are vacant.
Read more »
California tenants rise up, demand rent caps from city hallsLow-income tenants in the San Francisco Bay Area suburb of Antioch got legislation passed that will cap rent increases at 3% a year.
Read more »
California tenants rise up, demand rent caps from city hallsLow-income tenants in the San Francisco Bay Area suburb of Antioch got legislation passed that will cap rent increases at 3% a year.
Read more »
California tenants rise up, demand rent caps from city hallsCity councils in Bell Gardens, Pomona, Oxnard and Oakland all lowered maximum rent increases this year as inflation hit a 40-year high.
Read more »
California tenants rise up, demand rent caps from city hallsThe situation in working-class Antioch — where more than half the population is Black or Latino — illustrates how tenuous even a win for tenants can be.
Read more »