Bozeman Tenant Right to Counsel
Our community is in a housing crisis, the rent is too damn high, and most poor and working-class Bozemanites are one financial emergency away from eviction. Eviction is the leading cause of homelessness, and threat of eviction traps tenants in unsafe living situations, unfair leases, and higher and higher rents. Landlords and Property Management companies know that in Bozeman eviction court, renters have access to lawyers just 7% of the time, while landlords have lawyers 79% of the time. That's not a fair trial. That ain't right.
Bozeman Tenants United is fighting for a Bozeman Tenant Right to Counsel: the guaranteed right to legal representation for tenants facing eviction. 17 cities in the United States have now enacted Tenants’ Right to Counsel, including Boulder, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Louisville, Newark, New York City, and San Francisco. Where Right to Counsel has passed, it has reduced eviction filings, kept tenants in their homes, and saved money for the government.
Evictions have a high social cost and are both a cause and condition of poverty, often leading to job loss, mental and physical health consequences, and homelessness. Eviction disproportionately harms the most vulnerable people in our community; people with disabilities, single parents, LGBTQ+ people, elders on fixed income, Native, Black and brown people, etc. Ending evictions should be our collective responsibility.
We need every tenant in Bozeman, and every community member who cares about keeping our city safe to help us win Right to Counsel in Bozeman. Get off the sidelines & join the fight.
Bozeman tenants united endorses
joey morrison For Mayor
Update 11/7/23: WE WON! Bozeman Tenants United is proud to have endorsed Joey Morrison’s campaign effort, helping knock 15,000 doors through sun, rain, and snow. We had thousands of coversations connecting with our neighbors about how we can build a better Bozeman. Together we made history. This victory is your victory.
BZN Tenants United leader, Ozaawaamaakwa Echo Maker, on the endorsement:
“Generations of my family have been born, raised, and buried in Montana, and now I am watching as the places that I love — the place I am trying to raise my own child — become inaccessible to the people that keep the local economy running. . .I need and deserve better, and my daughter needs and deserves better. It’s time for poor and working class Bozemanites to have representation in our city government. It’s time for a mayor who will stop rubber stamping every luxury development, who will stop raising property taxes, and deeply engage with the full community. On behalf of Bozeman Tenants United, I am proud to announce our union’s endorsement of Joey Morrison for mayor of Bozeman.”
Ban Second Home Airbnbs
On Tues. 10/17/23 BZN Tenants United won our first campaign for safe, dignified and truly affordable housing in Bozeman. An amended Ordinance 2149 passed. 2nd Home Airbnbs are officially banned (except for the ~100 currently registered with the city) in all zones of Bozeman, and future housing built in our city will be protected from Airbnb investor portfolios.
We appreciate Commissioner Christopher Coburn who showed up on the 17th as a champion of poor and working class tenants. Coburn stood on the side of tenants until the end, saying that amidst Bozeman’s housing crisis, every single unit of available housing matters.
1 year ago, people did not believe a 2nd Home Airbnb ban could be won. The City was discussing higher registration fees for STRs as the solution to displacement. The relentless organizing of poor and working class tenants in Bozeman changed what was possible. Our membership of single parents, retirees, students, and working tenants of every background collected over 1,100 petition signatures supporting a Ban. Through townhalls, rallies, vigils, and a flood of public testimony we forced the urgency of the housing crisis and this piece of the solution into the spotlight, and through grassroots pressure and at times collaboration with the City government, we won this law.
“This is a victory for our union and for Bozemanites, and we know that it will not be the silver bullet to end the housing crisis. Our union’s win proves that those who are closest to the problems in our community are closest to the solutions. Let’s use the momentum from this victory to keep building our union’s power, and keep fighting for safe, dignified and affordable housing for all.” - Bozeman Tenants United leader Marie Lynn