Thomas Breen file photo
Tenants' union members and advocates at City Hall in November 2021.
Local tenants’ unions now have an official path forward for being recognized by the city in order to participate in housing-related investigations, thanks to the Fair Rent Commission’s adoption of a new set of union-related rules.
The commissioners unanimously approved those rules and regulations Tuesday night during their latest regular online monthly meeting.
The now-adopted rules pertaining to tenants’ unions flesh out a renter-power law recently approved by the Board of Alders.
Thanks to the alder-approved law and the Fair Rent Commission-approved regulations, tenants’ unions are now able to:
- officially register with the city;
- designate a representative (who may or may not be a fellow tenant of the complex);
- launch a public investigation from the Fair Rent Commission office into housing conditions at the apartment complex in question;
- and have a representative assist union members in filing an individual fair rent complaint.
The regulations stop short of allowing tenants’ unions to collectively appear before the Fair Rent Commission with a complaint about rent or living conditions within individual units. They also require tenants’ unions to have their registration forms notarized before submitting them to the city.
Read the adopted regulations, as well as a draft registration form for tenant unions, here. And click here for a previous article with more details about the tenants’ union registration process.
Tuesday's virtual Fair Rent Commission meeting.
During Tuesday’s discussion of these now-adopted rules, Fair Rent Commission Assistant Chair Douglas Losty asked for clarification on the unions’ ability to advocate for individual unit conditions.
Fair Rent Commission Executive Director Wildaliz Bermúdez said that tenants “still need to file an individual complaint with the Fair Rent Commission” if they want rent relief, because “whatever might be happening within your particular unit might not be the case within your neighbor’s unit.”
And if either the landlord or tenant wants to appeal the commission’s finding, Bermúdez said, “the court system only allows for a complaint to be heard on a case by case basis.”
Bermúdez added that if a union requests an investigation into the conditions of a housing complex as a whole, the results of that investigation can be used as evidence in a Fair Rent Commission hearing. “If there are multiple issues that keep bubbling up to the surface, … we can include it as part of the individual complaints, as part of the fact finding mission,” she said.
Fair Rent Commissioner Wendy Gamba asked about the role of union representatives in Fair Rent Commission hearings. “If only the representatives appeared” — without the tenant who filed the complaint — “the proceedings would not continue?”
“It’s important that the tenant be present,” Bermúdez replied.
“We’ve seen a lot of cases where the landlords send their representatives, whether it be a lawyer or property manager, and we don’t actually see or hear from the landlord,” Gamba pointed out. “The tenants tend to show up on their own and/or with counsel.”
“It’s absolutely true,” Bermúdez said. It’s ideal, she said, “if we can get both parties involved in the proceedings… we want more involvement overall, so that we can have due process.”
Notary Required; "An Aura Of Seriousness"
Noel Sims photo
Fair Rent Commission Director Bermúdez at a recent workshop.
The commissioners also debated how to prevent people from filing false union registration forms.
When tenants’ unions register with the city “how will we check the legitimacy of people who claim to be members of such a union?” asked Losty.
Bermúdez responded that her department is drafting a registration form for tenants’ unions, and that the Board of Alders had suggested that the form be required to be notarized.
As the commission’s designated city attorney Kevin Casini explained Tuesday night, a notary requirement would simply check that the individual filling out the form could present an ID confirming their identity. A notary could not guarantee that the names on the form are indeed tenants who agreed to join the union.
“In my opinion, adding the notary would delay the process,” Fair Rent Commission Chair Lizz McCrea remarked. “It can be a hassle. It sounds like it adds no value.”
Fair Rent Commission investigator Tanice Doman disagreed. “I find a notary to be probably a little bit necessary,” she said. “Anyone could fill that [form] out.”
“The requirement for a notary, while it doesn’t guarantee the veracity of what’s been attested, it does give it an aura of seriousness,” said Losty. “It has a psychological effect” that might deter people from falsifying the form.
“I say the psychological value of it is impactful,” agreed fellow commissioner Garry Monk.
After some more discussion, McCrea said, “now that I hear everybody’s opinion and I think about it, … it might be a helpful process.”
“It can always be altered later,” she added.
The commission came to a consensus that the form should include a notary requirement for the time being.
