It was a mild morning in early September when I heard the noise of a tow truck and some angry voices from my bedroom window. I ran outside and asked my neighbor what was happening, and she explained that her car was being towed and that the notice sticker had not been there that morning when she had given her daughter a ride to the store. New property management had stickered about 15 cars in the parking lot for things like expired tabs, giving no one, including this neighbor, the full 24 hours afforded to remedy the situation. As my neighbor’s car was hooked up to the trailer and the tow truck driver was ready to tow, a crowd of us tenants gathered, including this neighbor’s daughter, who uses a wheelchair. Because this towing was unjust, we blocked the tow truck from leaving the parking lot. After about an hour and the police being called, my neighbor’s car was taken off the tow truck, and the property manager gave up on towing any more cars that day. 

I live in HUD subsidized and Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) housing, which means that my housing is income-based and that the IRS oversees the housing due to its tax-exempt status. Everyone who lives here is living below the legal poverty line and either qualifies for discounted rent or uses Section 8, what’s now known as Housing Choice Vouchers. When I moved in, it was with my now ex-husband and our two kids. At the time we moved in, I was unable to work because I was a stay-at-home mom, and being a full-time mom made it impossible to work. I also have fibromyalgia, which flares up in unpredictable ways, making manual labor jobs, which I had done in the past, very difficult to maintain. 

Although thankful to live in subsidized housing because my rent is manageable, unjust treatment from property management has been constant. The company is abusive towards tenants, doesn’t maintain the property to safe standards, and infringes on tenant rights regularly, including that day in the parking lot. Our property management company treats all tenants like we are criminals. My neighbors hear the staff mocking tenants and our economic situation regularly. 

Many of the residents here are single moms or families with at least one person experiencing a disability. Many of my neighbors have had their health impacted by negligence on the part of the property management company, including dangerous stairs, which several people have fallen on, mold issues in every bottom floor unit, and even physical harm done to a neighbor during an eviction. 

I speak with my neighbors regularly about issues that they are concerned about regarding housing. I even speak with neighbors who are on the opposite end of the political spectrum and show them that we have a common issue to work on. I am transgender, and have had to ignore some of the political beliefs of a few of my more conservative neighbors, but they generally have found my knowledge on tenants issues to be beneficial and have become more accepting of me after getting to know me. You don’t have to be best friends with your neighbors to organize. Overall, knowing my neighbors has led to some great connections. I had a neighbor see me limping to the bus and they pulled over and gave me a ride all the way to school. I have other neighbors who have lent me toilet paper or given me eggs. This is what I consider the foundation of a community. 

It wasn’t until we started working together that any change started to happen. Finding

community with my neighbors with and without disabilities has been helpful and validating. Like the day we blocked the tow truck, we continue to make progress together for better treatment and accountability from property management. I was able to collect around 40 signatures from different tenants in our complex who were upset over the ways we had been treated. After I had collected these signatures, I sent a copy to our property management company, HUD, the City of Bellingham, WA, and IRS property contact. We have had the press come to our apartment complex on 3 separate occasions and it has done a lot to pressure the property management company to make the correct fixes. 

My advice to tenants – if you have a grievance with your property management, talk to those around you who live in the same environment. If you have an issue, it is likely that others are experiencing similar problems and that there are ways to work together to have these concerns addressed. Check out your local library for books on renters rights and learn what you can. NOLO series books have a Renter’s rights book that is easy to find online or at your library with some really good advice.The more you know about your rights, the harder it is for institutions to get away with violating them. Get everything in writing and follow up on any conversation you have with an email so that there is a paper trail. Petitions help send a strong message, and even people who are afraid of retaliation can sign as “tenant” and can write a complaint next to that signature. 

The government, including HUD and LIHTC programs, should mandate higher standards for its property management teams, including Fair, accessible and equitable treatment of all tenants. Tenants should have a right to collectively organize and meet with HUD and other government agencies that manage their housing. If government housing is the baseline standard for other private rental companies, then government housing should be held to a high standard.