++Membership Eligibility++
The Hudson Valley Tenants Union (HVTU) is a membership organization, allowing for the full democratic participation of anyone who does not fall under any of the following categories:
- A property manager or landlord (i.e. someone who receives rent or works for a company who receives rent) who leases or rents housing property/ies to tenants or an agent/proxy of such a property owner or manager
- Lawyers that represent property manager or landlord (mentioned previously)
- Anyone working in the sector of real estate speculation
- Anyone who profits from the commodification of housing other than from where they themselves live
Full and equal membership shall be granted to private home owners who do not fall into any of the above excluded categories and who are in agreement with our mission and goals. The HVTU reserves the right to deny membership to anyone for reasons that arise that conflict with our goals and core principles.
++Mission++
Housing is a human right. It is a basic need that everyone should have access to, and should not be a commodity to squeeze profit from or a tool to exploit others. Unfortunately, due to speculative investment and the globalized commercialization of the housing market, it is increasingly impossible for vast numbers of tenants to find a home they can afford. Changing this will require shifting the balance of power between landlords and tenants.
One key component to this fight is passing and expanding tenant protections, such as Good Cause Eviction and rent stabilization. In New York, tenants have successfully won versions of these laws that upstate municipalities can opt into. These protections ensure that tenants can stay in their homes. However, many tenants are unable to use these protections due to fear of retaliation. In order to make these laws effective for tenants, they must be used primarily as providing a right to organize, and tenants must use them to build power with their neighbors.
The HVTU aims to help tenants to organize associations so that they can collectively bargain with their landlords around their rights and repairs. Additionally, just as individual tenants are more powerful in an association, individual associations are more powerful when supported by other associations and community members. The goal of the HVTU is to build a regional union of associations powerful enough to win tenant demands and build tenant power throughout the Hudson Valley.
Ultimately, the HVTU intends to bring about the democratic control of housing. This includes ensuring that both associations and the regional union are democratically run by involved tenants. It also means fighting for a world where a large percentage of the housing stock is owned or controlled by tenants or the general public, whether via powerful associations, cooperatives, or social housing.
++Goals++
The HVTU is a voluntary membership organization formed for the purpose of:
- Supporting the creation of new tenant associations in specific complexes organized to fight for democratically generated demands. Some tenants may organize across multiple buildings owned by the same landlord, also known as a landlord’s portfolio.
- Coordinating with tenants and supportive community members to support specific building fights and the broader struggle to advance democratic tenant control over housing.
- Defending, enforcing, and expanding tenant protections under New York State and local law, including Good Cause Eviction and rent stabilization frameworks under the Emergency Tenant Protection Act (ETPA).
- Building a movement of organized tenants throughout the Hudson Valley that are connected to a broader statewide and national tenants movement.
The HVTU shall operate as an independent tenant organization and shall not be controlled by any landlord, property owner, political party, or state agency.