If you have questions about any of these action items, please schedule a quick Zoom meeting with a member of the Steering Committee here. We were elected to help members achieve the goals you voted for, so don’t hesitate to book a meeting!
Research landlords and property management to determine our next target
Phase Three: January 31 – February 13
Discussion Thread
At the General Meeting, we discussed doing more research on landlords before deciding where to form Tenant Unions.
In my opinion, this is important since Tenant Unions are largely defensive organizations meant to prevent evictions and exploitation. The best Tenant Unions establish stability for tenants, which matters a lot. But we still often talk about Tenant Unions and Labor Unions in the same breath, yet they’re not exactly the same tools for the working class.
Organized labor can disrupt economic activity on a large scale, which gives it leverage over bosses and shareholders, as well as politicians who worry about the fallout from economic disruption hurting them as well. Tenant Unions have similar leverage over landlords. But how can we turn that into broader influence, similar to what labor unions have?
On a Smaller Scale
- We could organize across multiple properties owned by the same landlord.
- Focus on landlords who are politically vulnerable to negative press, those trying to expand and unable to absorb financial hits, or those linked to political projects we might oppose.
- If landlords happen to be employers, there may be ways to collaborate with a labor union or organize workers and tenants together.
On a Larger (and Denser) Scale
If enough Tenant Unions coordinate across properties in a certain region:
- They might start to affect property valuations across the neighborhood.
- This could impact landlords’ ability to secure financing, discourage other real estate companies from entering, and halt gentrification.
- It might lead to housing being acquired by a tenant co-op.
- Lower property values would affect property taxes and, by extension, municipal budgets and city services, creating a broader political backlash—similar to the leverage that large labor unions enjoy.
- This kind of leverage could be used to influence public transportation systems, city services, or even healthcare services.
- “Cheaper” housing could mean new housing is genuinely affordable, rather than priced for investors.
All of this is long-term far away thinking. Many tenant organizers say Tenant Unions are “prefigurative,” challenging the idea of private property through collective stewardship. That’s good, but (imo) there’s a chance to go on the offensive. Instead of simply holding on to housing, if we strategize about where and when we organize, TUs could broaden their sphere on influence.
Anyway, this thread is for figuring out how to collect landlord information in bulk and do research on major property owners. Below are a few sources I found:
- The San Joaquin County Assessor-Recorder’s Office supposedly has property ownership records:
San Joaquin County Assessor Recorder
(Not sure how accessible they are.) - The SJC GIS Map Server has plenty of mapping tools:
San Joaquin County GIS Map Server - How do we build a list of housing with open complaints or violations?
- Can we track which landlords have the most code violations or evictions?
I’m not entirely sure how to handle or even start with this large-scale data collection. Other cities have done this, so it might be a good idea to reach out to organizations elsewhere to see how they managed it.