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GROUNDCOVER NEWS
HOUSING
MAY 17, 2024
Ann Arbor Tenants Union and POTUS push back
on junk fees
Formed in 1968 to push back against
unfair rental policy and practices, the
Ann Arbor Tenants Union fought for
tenants' rights such as fair and affordable
rent, addressing code violations,
and in general keeping landlords in
check. After losing funding in 2004,
the AATU faded. Recently though, the
rental landscape in Ann Arbor and
Ypsilanti has gotten out of control.
Now led by Julia Goode and Zackarian
Farah, the revived AATU has
returned to the battlefield.
On April 27, The Ann Arbor Tenants
Union put together a rally outside of
Ann Arbor City Hall to protest the
exorbitant fees landlords are charging
Ann Arbor renters. These “junk fees”
are riders that are charged along with
the usual security deposit and rent.
Usually these fees are charged after
the lease is signed, but some of them
are applied before there is even a
guarantee a unit will be available.
Navigating the fees makes apartment
hunting a harrowing experience.
Shopping is difficult because the high
application and move-in costs limit
the number of places a renter can
apply. The fees are not generally disclosed
before signing the lease, so the
apartment you thought you could
afford at the time of signing is now out
of your range. For someone of modest
means, this can spell eviction.
JIM CLARK
Groundcover vendor No. 139
The AATU is not alone. In a press
release from July of 2023, the
Biden-Harris administration
announced it is taking a stand on junk
fees as well. The action stems from the
fact that millions of families pay more
than rent and utilities when leasing a
dwelling.
The most common is a
non-refundable application fee.
Background and credit check costs
are also transferred to the potential
renter, also non-refundable.
As detailed in the National Consumer
Law Center Report "TOO
DAMN HIGH, How Junk Fees Add to
Skyrocketing Rents," there is even
something called a “January Fee”
which is imposed during January,
because it’s January. The most expensive
junk fee is a place-holding fee. A
place-holding fee is a charge to be put
on a waitlist for a unit. Place-holding
fees can be as high as $6,000, are also
non-refundable, and do not always
guarantee a spot. Biden’s plan to
manage junk fees includes compelling
rental platforms such as Zillow to
be transparent about extra fees.
Unfortunately, a Texas judge issued
an injunction on May 10 blocking
implementation of the Consumer
Protection Financial Bureau's move
to cap credit card fees at eight dollars
per month. "Every month that the
credit card late fee rule is blocked will
cost Americans over $800 million,"
the White House said following the
ruling.
In the HUD publication “Policy &
Practice,” aimed at municipalities,
other strategies being rolled out are
capping or eliminating application
fees, allowing renters to provide their
own screening reports, allowing a
single application fee to cover multiple
applications, limiting allowable
fees on deposits at the time of move-in
or lease signing, and clearly identifying
bottom-line amounts that tenants
will pay for move-in and monthly
rent.
Individual states are also making
changes to rental policy. Rhode Island
does not allow an application fee to
cost more than a background and
credit check, and that’s only if the
prospective renter does not provide
their own reports. Connecticut
prohibits application fees and caps
background checks at $50. The state
also requires all fees and monthly rent
on advertisements and the first page
of a lease agreement, and prohibits
move-in/move-out fees. As for Michigan,
the Michigan Law Policy Program
made, a presentation to the
Michigan House Housing Subcommittee
in February 2024. In the section
titled “Possible Rental Housing
Policy Responses,” these are listed as
potential strategies:
• protecting source of income
• expunging or sealing eviction
convictions
• creating a standard rental application
process
• rethinking traditional housing
policy such as allowing Accessory
Dwelling Units
• limiting or prohibiting junk fees.
In a March article from CBS, Ann
Arbor councilmember Erica Briggs
said, “The Renters Commission is currently
working on drafting legislation
that would change our ordinances so
that this (junk fees) would no longer
be allowed in the city," The Ann Arbor
Renters Commission was established
by City Council to be an advisory
board consisting of a demographic
cross section of renters.
What's missing in the debate on housing?
J. PAINE
Groundcover contributor
It seems like common sense these
days that the cost of housing is too
high. Following on the heels of this
observation is a chorus of problem
solvers who, consulting “Basic Economics,”
are quick to remind us that it
is because “supply is too low.” The
answer is therefore, simply, to “build
more supply” (buildings).
For the rest of us, the solution is to
wait for this to happen, and hope that
it solves the problem some amount of
years or decades down the line. At the
same time, these problem solvers
leave so much unsaid:
• Social housing such as that in
Vienna, Austria, is cheaper and more
desirable by residents than purely
market-rate housing.
• Co-op housing is cheaper for residents
for the same type of housing,
while it builds equity for those
residents and offers more direct control
over one’s home and community.
• Monthly rental payments often cost
more than mortgage payments would,
while tenants are denied mortgage
loans of the same amount they are
already paying every month for rent!
• Five million millionaires and 500+
new billionaires were created during
the Covid19 pandemic, and existing
billionaires got richer, just as corporate
profits soared under the guise of “inflation”
and a “labor shortage.”
• Half a trillion dollars or more was
injected into the banking system after
the financial crash of 2008, given as
corporate bailouts, and a similar plan
was enacted during the Covid19 pandemic.
Perhaps the predatory system
of financial speculation and corporate
irresponsibility has something to do
with the high interest rates and “inflation”
that have raised the cost of housing
and everything else – though these
problems are rarely mentioned as
being a cause of the “housing crisis.”
• According to Propublica, corporate
real estate firms have been colluding
and fixing prices, using proprietary
software to jack up rents and costs for
home-buyers.
• Rent strikes, tenant unions, and
more political actions have lowered
housing costs for residents throughout
history, and could do so again, without
any change in the supply of housing.
• Real estate developers and investors
have an incentive to keep profits
high, not reduce the cost of housing for
everyone else. These incentives more
than overwhelm the facile models of
supply and demand that are supposed
to bring down costs by increasing
supply.
• Finally, and ultimately to blame, is
a system of housing as a system of
investment, rather than a system
geared around providing a basic
human necessity. The cost of housing
will hardly go down over time when it
is good and economically-important
for those who own current housing for
the price to go up!
It is a wonder why the proponents of
basic economics and common sense
are leaving out such critical analyses
and range of solutions to the current
crisis. Nevertheless, we need a new
economics and new common sense
for the housing crisis – one that looks
at all the factors and parties responsible,
and explores all available options.
Ultimately, there must be a transfer
of power of economic decision-making
from the wealthy and large financial
institutions — who approach
housing as a commodity and an investment
— to regular people who need
homes for basic living. Only then can
more significant changes be implemented
that would meaningfully
tackle the crisis for most of us.
MAY 17, 2024
HOUSING
Tenant Talk: Fool me twice, shame
on monopoly landlords — still!
AJ STANDISH
Groundcover contributor
Ypsilanti is a city where around
70% of the population rent a place to
live. It’s also a city where the rental
market has been monopolized by
one rental company in particular
that is notorious in the community
for being exploitative and lazy about
all maintenance and care. The company,
which I won’t name here, buys
older houses and buildings but
refuses to maintain them, forcing
tenants to put up with terrible conditions
with little to no maintenance
or response.
I spoke to one tenant, who I’ll call
Crawford, about their experiences
with renting from this company.
Crawford has lived in two of the
company’s apartments. The first
thing they noticed in their first apartment
was that the walls were shaped
very abnormally.
“On the day that I moved in, [the
walls] were probably bulging out
from the wall about two inches at the
max length, like, it was substantial,
it was a huge breakage, it was probably
six feet by four feet tall, and it
was right up in the bedroom,” Crawford
said. “And I made note of it, and
I sent pictures to my landlord. And
[it was] total radio silence, they
didn't tell me if the service request
had been even received.”
Crawford’s apartment was directly
above the building's laundry room.
They said that mold was a huge concern
along with the sagging walls,
and that the entire unit, floor to ceiling,
was wet to the touch. During
their time there, they lived in fear
that something would happen
within the walls, a burst pipe, or the
walls
finally giving way to the
bowing. Already overwhelmed with
these concerns, Crawford started to
notice scurrying and crawling
noises.
“I found out that there were mice
all over the apartment. And there
was actually a hole below the radiator
that they had been coming in.
And out of that was just a place that
was missing a slot. And I had made
note of it and sent in a service
request and did not receive any
communication back.”
As the year went on, Crawford was
having a really dark time. One ray of
light for them was adopting a cat
who lived outdoors with a cat colony,
who they named Jane. Crawford says
that Jane adopted them, not the
other way around. Taking care of
Jane and developing their bond was
a distraction from the day to day
stressors of living in their apartment.
For example, when winter came,
things got very cold.
“December is about when I found
out that my radiator didn't even turn
on. It was there, it wouldn't work.
And my bedroom had no heat
source. It looked like there used to
be a radiator, you could feel the
stubs where they cut it and welded it
off. But there was no heat source in
my room,” Crawford said.
I’m only scratching the surface of
the issues Crawford faced in their
first apartment in this article.
Their next one, about a year and a
new cat later, was managed by the
same rental company. It contained
a whole new variety of issues. First,
their entire kitchen floor was covered
in mold.
It became a daily routine, scrubbing
mold off the floor with bleach
after working long hours everyday
while trying to repair other things in
the apartment. At the sane time,
Crawford was taking care of a new
sick cat and trying to look after the
first one, who was getting sicker,
having contracted an illness from
the new cat. Despite their efforts
keeping the two apart, and doing
their best with the mold, Jane got
very sick, to the point where Crawford
was afraid she would need to be
put down.
These worries were intensified
when, in response to a roach issue,
the rental company put poison all
over the floors.
“She was especially fragile
because she had gotten to a point
where I almost had to euthanize
her and I ended up having to
spend $3,500 just to keep her. And
the leasing company was aware,
they were aware she was
immunocompromised.”
Crawford had sent an email to the
company informing them of Jane’s
condition, but they didn’t listen.
“These little white tablets that I still
find and it has been half of a year.
These little white tablets that are
roach poison, and these little roach
traps. And I was talking to the people
who live in a different apartment.
And they're like, yeah, our dog ate
some. And I found [my cats] playing
with them. And this is the, you know,
this is something, this is a poison,
that it's toxic. Like it will make them
sick.”
Around the time their cat was very
sick, Crawford decided to pursue
veterinary medicine, stating this
horrible experience as a “driving
force.”
“Actually it was part of what got me
into veterinary medicine was her
getting sick and being like, I respect
the people that are saving my cat’s
life right now.”
Another glaring health hazard in
the second apartment is the presence
of several squirrels’ nests in the
roof, right above Crawford’s bed.
Every night they fall asleep to the
echo of scurrying squirrels.
“Squirrels live in that insulation,
and they've been building nests over
top of my bed and the slats there are
shifting. And now there's a gap
where squirrel feces and bedding is
falling into my bed.”
Finally, the rental company
responded to Crawford and the slats
were patched up with caulk in a way
that was ineffective.
The cherry on top of the squirrel
horror story happened when one of
the squirrels fell through the slats,
and ended up stuck in the wall. Due
to the lack of response from the
rental company, Crawford was
forced to listen to the squirrel struggle
to climb back up for days and
days, until it eventually died. As it
decomposed in the wall, Crawford’s
apartment smelled like rotting meat.
Again, there was no response from
the rental company.
Crawford works 50+ hours a week
as a vet tech, for only 16 dollars an
hour. Both of these apartments cost
them about $1,000 monthly, so they
had to work constantly just to afford
moldy, cold, poisonous, rodent-infested
and broken living quarters.
Trying to bring some brightness to
the situation, Crawford planted several
plants outside, all of which were
weedwacked by the rental
company.
Crawford’s story is one of very,
very many in the Ypsilanti area. This
rental company is risking people’s
lives, gambling with severe health
concerns, dangerous maintenance
negligence, and complete disregard
for the health and safety of tenants
who rent from them.
People shouldn’t have to battle
water damage, rodents, dying squirrels,
and parts of squirrel nest in
their bed. Nobody should have to
contemplate euthanizing their cat,
their best friend, because of health
concerns created by the people in
charge of their housing.
GROUNDCOVER NEWS
What’s
Happening
at the Ann
Arbor
District
Library
Open 10am–8pm Daily
Hang out in any of our five
locations across town, browsing
books, magazines, newspapers,
and more, or check out movies,
CDs, art prints, musical
instruments, and home tools—
you name it! Study and meeting
rooms, fast and free WiFi, and
plenty of places to sit and hang out.
Unusual Stuff to Borrow
There’s more to borrow at AADL
than books, music, and movies.
To name a few, there are games,
telescopes, stories-to-go kits,
and home tools. Check out these
unusual yet handy items during
your next library visit.
Book Clubs To Go
Book Clubs To Go is a service
available at each AADL location
that provides the convenience of
complete kits for book discussions.
Inside, you’ll find 10 copies of the
featured book, one movie DVD,
and a resource folder. Request a kit
today through the online catalog
or by calling (734) 327-4200.
FEATURED EVENT
Saturday, June 15 &
Sunday, June 16 • 10am–6pm
Downtown Library
A2CAF (Ann Arbor Comic Arts
Festival) is a two-day extravaganza
for comic lovers of all ages;
featuring workshops, art activities,
and one-on-one interactions
between comics readers and
makers. Join us at the Downtown
Library to explore a packed artist
alley, hear from renowned authors
and illustrators, and get creative
with quick drawing sessions,
face painting, and so much more!
Check out the full schedule of
A2CAF events at aadl.org/a2caf.
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