One critical right in 964 is the right to organize and elect a resident council to advocate on behalf of residents (Rule 964.11). Forming a resident council-or strengthening an existing council-gives residents a stronger voice with the housing authority and other government agencies and officials, who are a lot more likely to listen-and respond-to the concerns of a well-organized, well-informed group than to those of a single resident or informal group. Sometimes, to win more clout, resident councils from individual developments join together to form citywide or town wide resident councils (Rule 964.105).

A Duly Elected Council

If you want the public housing authority to recognize your resident council as a duly elected organization that represents people living in your development, 964 says you have to do two things (Rule 964.115): (1) Adopt by-laws or other written procedures, and (2) hold a democratic election of officers (president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer). But keep in mind: by-laws and written rules alone do not keep leaders accountable or inspire membership participation. As one organizer says: "People, not paper, keep organizations open and action-oriented." (Roots to Power: A Manual for Grassroots Organizing, by Lee Staples)

Overcoming Residents’ Fears

One of the hardest things about organizing in many housing developments is overcoming residents’ fears that management will retaliate by evicting them or increasing their rent if they are involved in any organizing effort.

One way to overcome these fears is to inform residents that organizing and being involved in a resident organization is not grounds for eviction. Invite a legal aid attorney familiar with residents’ rights to one of your meetings to answer questions and speak with residents about their concerns. Also, the more residents who are involved, the less likely it is that the housing authority will be able to target or single out a leader. Leaders need the protection and active participation of fellow residents to be effective.

By Sharon Sherman

When NAHT first began eight years ago, tenants had the right to organize, but it was buried in HUD’s regulations and was poorly defined. NAHT’s first priority then was a Tenants’ Rights Brochure and amendments to HUD’s Management Agent Handbook, which more clearly outlined tenants right to organize. Once the Tenants’ Rights book was made available to tenants and more unorganized tenants became organized, difficulties increased. Tenants who were empowering themselves as well as tenant organizers began facing incredible harassment including being sent to jail for standing up for their rights. In response, NAHT proposed the HUD Tenants Bill of Rights to Organize and demanded that HUD take steps to define and enforce tenants rights to meet, leaflet and door knock their neighbors, and invite in outside help.

As the harassment continued, NAHT members as well as HUD officials soon recognized that tenants’ right to organize needed to be set down and expanded in a new regulation. In August 199, a ne regulation was proposed by HUD. The proposed regulation included many of the points NAHT members wanted, but there were still many areas of the regulation which needed to be changed. The NAHT membership responded by sending 104 comments to HUD addressing these changes.

The final regulation was published on June 7, 2000, just in time for the NAHT conference. Key parts of the regulation are presented here because a summary would not do justice to the many rights contained in the regulation. It is not perfect, but it is a tremendous step forward and should prove a vital tool in organizing HUD tenants throughout the country. Now the challenge will be to ensure that tenants know about these rights and that HUD enforces them.

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24 CFR Part 245

Part 245-TENANT PARTICIPATION IN MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING PROJECTS

The tenants of a multifamily housing project covered under Sec. 245.10 have the right to establish and operate a tenant organization for the purpose of addressing issues related to their living environment, which includes the terms and conditions of their tenancy as well as activities related to housing and community development.

Sec. 245.105 Recognition of tenant organizations.

Owners of multifamily housing projects covered under Sec. 245.10, and their agents, must: (a) Recognize legitimate tenant organizations; and (b) Give reasonable consideration to concerns raised by legitimate tenant organizations.

Sec. 245.110 Legitimate tenant organizations.

A tenant organization is legitimate if it has been established by the tenants of a multifamily housing project covered under Sec. 245.10 for the purpose described in Sec. 245.100, and meets regularly, operates democratically, is representative of all residents in the development, and is completely independent of owners, management, and their representatives.

Sec. 245.115 Protected activities.

(a) Owners of multifamily housing projects covered under Sec. 245.10, and their agents, must allow tenants and tenant organizers to conduct the following activities related to the establishment or operation of a tenant organization:

(1) Distributing leaflets in lobby areas;

(2) Placing leaftlets at or under tenants’ doors;

(3) Distributing leaflets in common areas;

(4) Initiating contact with tenants;

(5) Conducting door-to-door surveys of tenants to ascertain interest in establishing a tenant organization and to offer information about tenant organizations;

(6) Posting information on bulletin boards;

(7) Assisting tenants to participate in tenant organization activities;

(8) Convening regularly scheduled tenant organization meetings in a space on site and accessible to tenants, in a manner that is fully independent of management representatives. In order to preserve the independence of tenant organizations, management representatives may not attend such meetings unless invited by the tenant organization to specific meetings to discuss a specific issue or issues; and

(9) Formulating responses to owner’s requests for: (I) Rent increases; (ii) Partial payment of claims; (iii) The conversion from project-based paid utilities to tenant-paid utilities; (iv) A reduction in tenant utility allowances; (v) Converting residential units to non-residential use; cooperative housing , or condominiums; (vi) Major capital additions; and (vii) Prepayment of loans.

(b) In addition to the activities listed in paragraph (a) of this section, owners of multifamily housing projects covered under Sec. 245.10 and their agents, must allow tenants and tenant organizers to conduct other reasonable activities related to the establishment or operation of a tenant organization.

© Owners of multifamily housing projects and their agents shall not require tenants and tenant organizers to obtain prior permission before engaging in the activities permitted under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section.

Sec. 245.120 Meeting space.

(a) Owners of multifamily housing projects covered under Sec. 245.10, and their agents, must reasonably make available the use of any community room or other available space appropriate for meetings that is part of the multifamily housing project when requested by: (1) Tenants or a tenant organization and used for activities related the operation of the tenant organization; or (2) Tenants seeking to establish a tenant organization or collectively address issues related to their living environment.

(b) Tenant and tenant organization meetings must be accessible to persons with disabilities, unless this is impractical for reasons beyond the organization’s control. If the complex has an accessible common area or areas, it will not be impractical to make organizational meetings accessible to persons with disabilities.

( c) Fees. An owner of a multifamily housing project covered under Sec. 245.10 may charge a reasonable, customary and usual fee, approved by the Secretary as may normally be imposed for the use of such facilities in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Secretary, for the use of meeting space. An owner may waive this fee.

Sec. 245.125 Tenant organizers.

(a) A tenant organizer is a tenant or non-tenant who assists tenants in establishing and operating a tenant organization, and who is not an employee or representative of current or prospective owners, managers, or their agents.

(b) Owners of multifamily housing projects covered under Sec. 245.10, and their agents, must allow tenant organizers to assist tenants in [Page 36282] establishing and operating tenant organizations.

© Non-tenant organizations.

1. If a multifamily housing project covered under Sec. 245.10 has a consistently enforced, written policy against canvassing, then a non-tenant tenant organizer must be accompanied by a tenant while on the property of the multifamily housing project, except in the case of recipients of HUD Outreach and Assistance Training Grants ("OTAG") or other direct HUD grants designed to enable recipients to provide education and outreach to tenants concerning HUD’s mark-to-market program (see 24 CFR parts 401 and 402), who are conducting eligible activities as defined in the applicable Notice of Funding Availability for the grant or other effective grant document.

2. If a multifamily housing project covered under Sec. 245.10 has a written policy favoring canvassing, any non-tenant tenant organizer must be afforded the same privileges and rights of access as other uninvited outside parties in the normal course of operations. If the project does not have a consistently enforced, written policy against canvassing, the project shall be treated as if it has a policy favoring canvassing.

Sec. 245.135 Enforcement.

(a) Owners of housing identified in Sec. 245.10, and their agents, as well as any principals thereof (as defined in 24 CFR 24.105), who violate any provision of this subpart so as to interfere with the organizational and participatory rights of tenants, may be liable for sanctions under 24 CFR part 24. Such sanctions may include:

(1) Debarment. A person who is debarred is prohibited from future participation in Federal programs for a period of time. The specific rules and regulations relating to debarment are found in 24 CFR part 24, subpart C.

(2) Suspension. Suspension is a temporary action with the same effect as debarment, to be taken when there is adequate evidence that a cause for debarment may exist and immediate action is needed to protect the public interest. The specific rules and regulations relating to suspension are found at 24 CFR part 24, subpart D.

(3) Limited Denial of Participation. An LDP generally excludes a person from future participation in the Federal program under which the cause arose. The duration of an LDP is generally up to 12 months. The specific rules and regulations relating to LDPs are found at 24 CFR subpart G.

(b) These sanctions may also apply to affiliates (as defined in 24 CFR part 24) of these persons or entities.