By Carl Hintz
The Triangle Tenant Union held its January General Meeting on Saturday January 13th at Jubilee Baptist Church. Ten tenant-organizers were in attendance, many of whom have experienced first-hand 20-30 percent rent hikes, absentee landlords, and buildings in disrepair.
Attendees shared some of the union’s accomplishments in the last year. One apartment complex came together to stop a threatened eviction. Another complex secured public funding to freeze a threatened rent increase.
Ironically, in this second victory, the landlord is a nonprofit called CASA. Its stated mission is to “provide access to stable, affordable housing for people who are homeless or at risk by developing and managing rental communities.” In practice it chose to shift tenants from yearly to monthly leases and dramatically increased rent with short notice.
In some apartment complexes Triangle Tenant Union is picking up where Bull City Tenants United left off. Many tenants still want to organize.
The main purpose of the January 13th meeting was to revise and vote on bylaws that “formalize the day-to-day work of the Triangle Tenant Union”. The proposed bylaws passed after deliberation and revisions with a 10-0 unanimous vote.
At the end of the meeting, participants were asked “How will you commit to help build Triangle Tenant Union in the next two months?”
The next TTU general meeting is on Saturday, March 2nd at 4:00PM at Jubilee Baptist Church, 2025 Ephesus Church Rd, Chapel Hill. Officers will be elected at the March 2nd meeting.
At this time, people who would like to join TTU may do so at triangletenantunion.org. No dues payment is required at this time. The organization can be reached by email at triangletenantunion@gmail.com or by phone at (919) 391-7089.