Why Renters Are Going on Strike Against Corporate Landlords

FEATURING ALEX FERRER - As the cost of housing continues to be out of reach of many Americans, millions are burdened with rent and eviction-related debt that they cannot pay. 

Now, the Debt Collective has organized a rent debt strike against Equity Residential, the fifth largest landlord in the nation and the largest in the city of Los Angeles, where tenants recently successfully pushed back against deceptive utility bills.

Alex Ferrer, an organizer with the Debt Collective, working with tenants towards the abolition of their post eviction rental debt, spoke with Sonali Kolhatkar about the renters strike.

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Sonali Kolhatkar: The Debt Collective often, for folks who are familiar with the organization, has been associated with college debt, with student debt. Tell me what the issue for “rent debt” is and why the organization has included or expanded its work to include rent-related debt. 

Alex Ferrer: Totally. I think that's, that's our historic focus on student debt and medical debt and all other forms of burdensome debt, I think is actually really congruous with this issue of rental debt because it's another area in which a basic human necessity, that is housing, is being a place in which people are becoming deeply indebted because we're being denied the means to live without debt. So, the high cost of housing and the, the post eviction rent debt arrears are, I think, very similar to other arrears of focus for the Debt Collective. and we see these issues as totally congruous.