Support the Tenants Union!
Your rights as a renter don’t do you any good if you don’t know what they are and how to use them. As a member you can call the Tenants Union on the members’-only phone line and have quick access to answers about your rights. You can certainly call the Tenants Union at the hotline without being a member. However, because the need is so great it may be quite hard to get through, so you’ll need to be patient and keep dialing in (206-723-0500).
The laws we have got aren’t good enough to protect us.
You may have had problems getting repairs done, getting your deposits back, or having your landlord barge in on you. This is happening to a lot of folks like you every day.
Maybe you have a problem that has a solution, like getting your deposit. But the laws we’ve got just don’t solve all of our problems. You can easily get stuck in a situation where the law is no help. And as the housing crunch gets tighter, more and more landlords will try to take advantage of the weak laws that are on the books.
That’s why the Tenants Union works to change the law.
There aren’t many laws that protect us as renters, and the landlord lobby is attacking the few that we have. The Tenants Union organizes tenants and builds coalitions to expand and protect tenants rights. Some of the laws passed thanks to the hard work of Tenants Union members and staff are:
- In Seattle, renters can’t be evicted because the landlord doesn’t like you, or for other unfair reasons (the Just Cause Eviction Ordinance).
- In King County, deadbolts and peepholes are required.
The landlords spend a lot of our rent money lobbying our elected representatives. We have to work together to protect ourselves. The more people the Tenants Union represents, the better chance there is of getting politicians to listen to us.
The Tenants Union has been working for tenants rights since 1976. But now it’s more important than ever. The Tenants Union needs your help to win improvements in our rights. The more members are involved in the Tenants Union, the stronger impression we make with our politicians.
As a member you’ll get:
- A Renter’s Kit full of resources
- Quick Answers on the member’s only phone number
- Updates on the work of the Tenants Union in our quarterly newsletter
More important, by becoming a memer of the Tenants Union, you’re building our strength to educate and organize tenants and fight for change.
Membership is on a slidaing scale. Give whatever you can afford—but pleas be as generous as you can. We suggest membership dues of $1 for every $1,000 you earn a year. (For example, if you earn $18,000 a year, your membership dues would by $18.)
Of course, if you prefer, you can join by calling our office at 206-722-6848, ext. 103. Please have your credit-card number handy.
If you would like to pay your membership dues by check, please mail them to:
The Tenants Union
5425 B Rainier Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98118
Thank you for your support!