Tenants Together
Sample Letters for Asserting Tenants' Rights
Help tenants assert their rights to their landlords by creating legal "sample" letters.
Posted June 8, 2022
Background & Context
Tenants Together is a statewide coalition of local tenant organizations dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of California tenants to safe, decent, and affordable housing. As California’s only statewide tenants’ rights organization, Tenants Together works to improve the lives of California’s tenants through capacity-building, movement-building, and statewide advocacy.
Our sample letters are used for wide distribution to tenants on our Statewide Tenants' Rights Hotline or with our member organizations all over California. We created this stock of sample letters recognizing that tenants in crisis cannot always get legal advice in the moment to be able to respond to an issue with the landlord; therefore, we created this templates that any tenant can fill in with their information and respond to their landlord, explaining their rights and any applicable codes and laws that make their position stronger and prevent tenant displacement.
Work & Deliverables
-Review existing sample letters for accuracy (given the changing nature of tenant protections) on several tenants rights topics, such as stopping different types of evictions and rent increases.
-Create sample letters for missing tenants rights topics that will be identified, such as city-wide rent control protections
-Translate sample letters from English to Spanish (optional)
Preparation Phase
- Introduction call with volunteer coordinator
Collaboration Phase
- Review existing sample letters
- Create sample letters for missing tenants' rights topic
- Schedule check-ins as needed for support and questions
Wrap Up
- Follow up call with volunteer coordinator
- Discuss whether to continue supporting in other volunteer/contract capacity or finish involvement
Tenants Together
Tenants Together is a statewide coalition of local tenant organizations dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of California tenants to safe, decent, and affordable housing. As California’s only statewide renters’ rights organization, Tenants Together works to improve the lives of California’s tenants through capacity-building, movement-building, and statewide advocacy. Tenants Together seeks to support and strengthen the statewide movement for renters’ rights. We believe that housing is a human right, not a commodity. We advance policy that is driven from tenant experience. To resist displacement we must organize renters and other allied groups to make strong and bold demands of those in power. Organizing for tenants’ rights to us means organizing tenant unions and building associations, building tenant power for the long-term. If we are to win the most transformative policy, we must center our movements around the leadership of those most affected: low-income communities and communities of color. We seek alignment with other movements fighting against structural oppression because tenants do not live single-issue lives, and the right to housing will only be won by building power with other movements. This includes, but is not limited to, movements that build collective power and are rooted in racial, gender, economic, environmental, and disability justice; trans and queer liberation, and indigenous sovereignty.
Tenants Together
Tenants Together is a statewide coalition of local tenant organizations dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of California tenants to safe, decent, and affordable housing. As California’s only statewide renters’ rights organization, Tenants Together works to improve the lives of California’s tenants through capacity-building, movement-building, and statewide advocacy. Tenants Together seeks to support and strengthen the statewide movement for renters’ rights. We believe that housing is a human right, not a commodity. We advance policy that is driven from tenant experience. To resist displacement we must organize renters and other allied groups to make strong and bold demands of those in power. Organizing for tenants’ rights to us means organizing tenant unions and building associations, building tenant power for the long-term. If we are to win the most transformative policy, we must center our movements around the leadership of those most affected: low-income communities and communities of color. We seek alignment with other movements fighting against structural oppression because tenants do not live single-issue lives, and the right to housing will only be won by building power with other movements. This includes, but is not limited to, movements that build collective power and are rooted in racial, gender, economic, environmental, and disability justice; trans and queer liberation, and indigenous sovereignty.