Andrea Gibbons, among other things, established SAJE‘s Research Department with some path-breaking work that uncovered an invisible criminal slumlord empire just by digging into the information that surrounded a single building.  Andrea was followed  by Albert Lowe (aka Uncle Joe) who laid the groundwork for the Shame of the City reports that are referred to in our recent Get the Lead Out article.  Both of their  efforts contributed mightily towards the criminal convictions of two of L.A.’s biggest and baddest slumlords.  Here Andrea share’s her 5-step method on how to research a slumlord, which is also summarized in the 5-minute video below.

So you wanna get down and dirty and research a slumlord?

How to Research A Slumlord from Gilda Haas on Vimeo.

I believe that each and every one of us has a right to a safe and secure, I’d go so far as to say cozy, place to call home. While I have not yet succeeded in making this a universal belief (and I do stress the yet), I will say there is widespread agreement that a landlord must maintain his building if you’re paying him rent. Given that most owners see our beloved homes as nothing more than income streams that are only hurt by maintenance expenses, this is always a cause of no small tension. There are, of course, those among the wider pool of investors who are out and out blankety-blanks. Buy me a drink sometime and I will tell you what I really think, especially as this post has nothing to do with the whys of slumlords, so don’t forget the larger forces at work here that also require attention!

Far too many of our people are forced to live with rats, roaches, peeling paint, mold, an absence of heat, raw sewage, leaking pipes… the list goes on, as does my fury. If you’re going to dig deep and put the hours in to finding out exactly who is profiting off of such daily assaults upon their tenants, then I would first recommend love and fury in equal measures. They will make up for your learning curve, and sustain you in your attention to numbing detail and bureaucracy.

And so! For the agony and ecstasy of corporate research in 5 “easy” steps (and my apologies that specific sources are American though the theory is the same everywhere), keep reading…

Know them up and down, backwards and forwards before you do anything, and I mean anything.  Slumlords don’t like tenants or tenant organizers getting uppity, so be extremely prepared.

• Dig out those contracts, read them, find out exactly what you’ve signed up for if you didn’t already know. I’m afraid to say there are often some nasty surprises in there.  Those lawyers know what they’re doing.

• Cities and states have different laws protecting tenants, find out which ones apply to you. All of them have basic requirements for building maintenance. At best you also have your rent control (which limits how much an owner can increase your rent), and you have your just cause eviction (which limits the reasons you can be evicted). If your town has neither, then it’s just down to you and whatever you can negotiate into your contract. Make sure you have back up, and check out Vida Urbana/City Life to see just how much tenants working together have been able to negotiate into collective contracts.

Knowledge alone isn’t power, I’m afraid.  If it were my life would be much different. What knowledge does is allow you to use your power most effectively to place pressure where pressure will make a difference. You need to consider your options on how best to use it.

You can pressure the owner directly. For example when I worked at SAJE, we once took a tenant delegation to meet with their landlord’s pastor. That stopped the harassment and threatened evictions pretty quickly.

Another obvious target is the city or county, who are more likely to try and act effectively after you have built a picture of the landlord’s evil business operations and their effects on their tenants and community.

The picture below shows the kind of  strategic information that maybe be useful and where the pressure points might lie, but don’t let this limit you!  Every landlord and city is different.  There are undoubtedly other possibilities.

Read More…

Here are some other reports on the event:

Chicago Renters Spending More of Their Paychecks On Shelter (Chicago Tribune)

Renters Caught in the Housing Collapse (Chicago Public Radio)

A Renters Nightmare (The Chicago Reporter)

Rent Key to Chicago Economy (Chicago Tribune, letter-to-editor)

State of Renters Here: Insecure (Chicago LISC)