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Introductions to Tenant's Associations

Tenants’ associations are a group of tenants who are interested in building community and improving the conditions in their rental building or complex. Many tenants have found that working alone to try and address the concerns they have in their buildings is a big, lonely and thankless job.

That is where tenants’ associations come in! Groups of tenants working together can get more done and make the jobs easier (and even fun!) Here is some information that will help you in starting an association in your complex or building.

WHY HAVE A TENANTS’ ASSOCIATION?

  • Strength in numbers. Tenants working together have a stronger voice when dealing with the superintendent, landlord, municipal inspectors, city councilors, the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal, etc.

  • Tenants’ associations help teach tenants about their rights, encourage them to enforce their rights and as a result educate landlords about their responsibilities. Some landlords choose to ignore the tenant protection act but others simply do not know what their legal obligations are! Tenants associations can make sure landlords take their obligations seriously.

  • Tenants who have learned about their rights through the tenants association can pass the information on to other tenants in the city. Eventually most tenants will know and enforce their rights and this will help to improve all rental housing.

  • Tenants’ associations can do other things to help build a strong sense of community in their complex. Social events and outings, welcoming committees, card clubs, etc. are all things that tenants associations can organize for the tenants. These kinds of things, especially for children, will lead to a safer community with reduced vandalism and crime (another benefit for the landlord!).

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WHAT CAN A TENANTS’ ASSOCIATION DO?

COMMUNICATE WITH THE LANDLORD:

A tenants’ association has a stronger voice than a single tenant and you can use this voice to negotiate with the landlord for improvements to the building and property (parking areas, lighting, lobbies, elevators, etc.) and to the systems of regular upkeep and general repairs.

You may want to start by opening up lines of communication with your landlord. You don’t necessarily want to start off with a bad relationship. You may be able to work with the landlord to make the building better. For example, maybe the landlord really doesn’t know that the superintendent isn’t doing a good job.

After all, landlords benefit from well-run, well-kept buildings with satisfied tenants. It costs them less in vacancies and turnover and keeps up the property value.

The tenants can be a good source of information for the landlord about the quality of repairs and services s/he contracts (including the quality of superintendents and/or property managers).

Take the time to tell your landlord all the ways s/he can benefit from the tenants’ association. The tenants’ association starts by talking to the landlord and trying to solve problems in the building together. If this doesn’t work then it’s time to plan more serious action.

A tenants’ association CAN put more pressure on the landlord if there are ongoing maintenance repair and/or safety problems.

GROUP ACTIONS:

The tenants’ association can organize applications for rent reductions, abatements, and freezes for all the tenants in the building (whole building actions.)

EDUCATION:

The tenants’ association can arrange for lawyers and other community service people to come and speak to tenants about what their rights are, and how different resource people can help tenants.

Some suggestions for guest speakers are:

  • property standards, fire and health inspectors
  • lawyers, legal or community workers from the legal clinics in your area
  • shelters for victims of violence
  • local recreation or community centre workers
  • city councilors
  • agencies that deal with other housing-related issues in your community, etc.

COMMUNITY:

The tenants’ association can also help to build a strong community in the building by getting tenants involved in other activities like:

  • neighbourhood watch programs (your local police station can help)
  • barbeques
  • Christmas/Halloween parties
  • dances
  • card playing or book clubs
  • a welcoming committee to welcome new tenants and inform them about the tenants association and some of their basic rights
  • BE CREATIVE! THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!

You can also get involved with your larger community and join other community groups like:

  • neighbourhood associations
  • tenant organizations
  • enter a team in a local sports league

INFORMATION SYSTEMS:

A tenants’ association committee may want to start out by getting information together and deciding how to make sure it is organized.

Some things your committee may want to develop are:

  • A list of community resources to which tenants can turn for help
  • A record keeping system, such as file folders or binders, to hold information about all apartments and common areas. This will allow you to develop a history of building issues like:

     • repairs done
     • superintendents
     • rents
     • services
     • legal actions taken by tenants or landlords
     • completed maintenance surveys, etc.
     

  • Keep a binder or notebook with notes from all the committee meetings, usually kept by the recording secretary (*notes from meetings that explain who was at the meeting, what happened, what decisions were made are called “minutes”).

  • Have a fact sheet for all tenants that includes:

    • information about the complex (superintendent, landlord, services, large item garage pick-up)
    • the tenants’ association (executive committee members, membership fees, how to get involved)
     • community resources for tenants (legal clinics, property, health and fire inspectors, aldermen, rent control offices, etc.)

COMMUNICATION WITH TENANTS:

One of the most important things for a tenants’ association to do is make sure you communicate back to the rest of the tenants in the building.

This can be done by a simple one page newsletter. The more the tenants know about what you’re doing, the more they will support the tenants’ association. You may even end up getting more members and more volunteers.

A good first newsletter would include an information section (see “fact sheet” above).

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HOW TO START A TENANTS’ ASSOCIATION

ORGANIZING THE FIRST GENERAL MEETING

The first meeting is very important and needs to be as well organized as possible. The start-up team or committee will need to meet a few times to do the planning and get things underway.

WHEN:

First, be sure to get a date that you think people will be willing to come out on. It should be an evening early in the week (for example, Tuesday from 7:00 to 8:30). Make sure there are no major events happening that night like the World Series, the Grey Cup or a play at the local school and that the meeting is scheduled to take no more than 1 ½ to 2 hours. Try to keep the duration of the meeting to the time you have scheduled. If the meeting lasts too long people will lose interest, get bored, tired, etc. and will resent the time you’ve taken.

WHERE:

Choose a location that is very close by. If there is a party or a meeting room in the building, that’s your best bet. The further people have to go, the less likely they will be to make the effort. Try neighbourhood schools (your alderman may be able to help you book them), churches, community centres or public libraries. If a small rental fee is required you can ask for donations from tenants at the meeting to cover the costs (usually more than enough money is collected).

WHY:

Draw up notices that tell tenants about the ISSUES. Talk to other tenants and find out what people are concerned about. Use this information on a flyer to advertise the meeting.

WHO:

Invite guest speakers and note their involvement on the flyer. Resource people who make excellent speakers for tenant meetings include:

  • Lawyers or legal workers experienced in the Tenant Protection Act (call your local community legal clinic)

  • Representatives from the local tenant federation

  • Ward aldermen, city/regional councilors, and/or property standards, health department or fire department staff can help explain the by-laws that affect tenants and how to get inspections done (depending on the issues in the building, call the resource people that can advise tenants)

  • The Ministry of Housing Rent Control office may send representatives to explain their role

  • A tenant who has been involved in a successful tenants association

HOW:

Get enough copies of the flyer you have done so one can be given to each unit (get a few extras for posting on the day of the meeting at the complex and around the location of the meeting).

Remember the flyer should have all the information about the meeting on it like what issues will be discussed, who the guest speakers will be, that you are trying to form a tenants association, as well as the basics: Place, Time, Date.

The most successful way to get people to come to a meeting is by talking to them. Don’t just drop the flyer at each door. Knock on the doors and talk to the tenants about getting the association underway, and about the issues that the tenants association wants to deal with. Invite them to the meeting and encourage them to support the tenant association by being a member.

We suggest doing your door-knocking in teams of two for personal safety reasons.

On the day of the meeting make sure the 4-6 people that have been involved in organizing the meeting show up about ½ an hour early. Together you should make sure the room is set up with chairs, a table for the speakers and a table near the entrance with sheets of paper so that the tenants can sign-in as they arrive (keeping a record of who shows up will be useful so that in the future you can call on those people for help, information or even just to begin to put some names with faces).

SUGGESTED AGENDA:

Make sure you have an AGENDA for the meeting and that there is a logical flow of information. Here is a suggested order:

Introduction by Chairperson (or one of your start-up committee members):

  • Welcome and thank everyone for coming
  • Introduce self and why meeting was called
  • Explain agenda and the participants and why each guest speaker was invited

Guest Speakers:

  • Introduce each guest speaker before they speak; be sure to keep them on time; thank them after speech

Tenants’ Association:

  • One of the start up committee members should explain that it is time to decide about having a tenants association
  • Talk to the tenants about the benefits of tenants associations and the good things that can be accomplished as outlined in this guide
  • Try to be as positive, energetic and encouraging as possible
  • You may want to mention the larger tenants movement in the community and other communities (A federation of tenants associations exist in, Toronto, and tenants’ associations exist in Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, Windsor, London, and many other communities)
  • After the pep talk about tenants’ associations, call for a vote (ask people to raise their hands if they want a tenants association in their complex)

IF THERE IS NO MAJORITY SUPPORT FOR THE TENANTS ASSOCIATION:

Ask the group if there are question or concerns about having a tenants association and get some discussion going again about the benefits. Try again for a positive vote. If the vote fails again, oh well!! Don’t be too discouraged. Wait 6 months or so (during which you and others should be talking it up with tenants) and try again!

IF THE MAJORITY OF THE TENANTS HAVE THEIR HANDS UP:

Congratulate the group on their decision. Ask for people to volunteer to be on the executive (or steering) committee. Write their names down and ask them to come to the front of the room so everyone knows who they are.

Once you have 6 or so volunteers (you can have more – don’t turn anyone away), ask the tenants for a vote of support or endorsement of the volunteers as their representatives (again by a show of hands). If there is a majority that supports these volunteers.

Congratulate Yourselves and the Tenants – You Now Have A
Tenants Association and An Executive Committee!!!

The next step is to get FLOOR CAPTAINS in place. Ask for volunteers (at least one for each floor) that will help the committee to communicate with the rest of the tenants (deliver flyers, observe common areas for problems, etc.). Stress that floor captains do not have to come to all meetings of the executive committee, just be willing to communicate issues to the committee as they come up, and to help out with delivering information back to the tenants on their floor.

If more than one person volunteers for some floors and there are no tenants volunteering for other floors, just assign the volunteers to floors other then their own.

IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE MEETING:

Get the names, telephone numbers, and unit numbers of all volunteers and committee members AND set a date for the first meeting of the committee!

BRAINSTORMING:

Whatever your committee decides to do you should start out by having a meeting where everyone has a chance to come up with ideas - this is sometimes called a brainstorming session because all the ideas that everyone has are made into a big list.

Once the list is done you have to decide which things are the most important and should be worked on right away.

You should pick something that can be done quickly and easily so that people see that things are being accomplished.

After setting some goals you should then make a plan on how to get them done, who is going to do what, how long it will take, and whether your committee has everything it needs to do it.

Every time the committee decides to do something you must agree on:

  • WHO IS GOING TO DO IT?
  • HOW LONG SHOULD IT TAKE?
  • WHEN SHOULD IT BE DONE OR COMPLETED?
  • And don’t forget to set up a date to get back together for the follow-up!

The committee should also make sure that all decisions that are made are written down!!!

WHEN TO HAVE MEETINGS:

You may be wondering how often to hold meetings. The simple answer is: as often as you need to. Your committee should meet often enough to make sure you are keeping in touch with the issues in your complex and that things are getting done, but not so often that meetings are taking over the tenants regularly daily activities!

You may want a regularly scheduled meeting – for example, every other Monday or the third Wednesday of every month. Every second evening would be too much and only once a year would probably not be enough.
Once in a while you may have to plan a few extra meetings if there are very important issues to deal with (for example, taking legal action against the landlord).

ALL of the tenants in the building meet at least once a year in order to hold elections to the committee. This is very important because a democratic organization means that people are given the chance to vote on who will represent them. Your by-laws will say how often you have to hold elections.

If the tenants committee thinks the association should join another organization or do something that may mean risks or responsibilities for the association, a full membership (all tenants) meeting is called so that the members can make the decision together.

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HOW TO MAKE DECISIONS WITH A GROUP

CONSENSUS STYLE DECISION MAKING:

Consensus is a way of coming to a decision by talking about an issue until some kind of agreement takes place.

For consensus to work, people have to be able to feel free to speak what is on their minds. This is where ground rules can be very important to a group.

There should also be a great deal of trust in the group so that people are not afraid to speak up.

The chairperson has to make sure that everyone gets a chance to speak. Different opinions of group members should be used as a way to

  • get more information

  • clarify issues

  • finding better choices

The group members need to be willing to compromise and work towards an agreement. This does not mean that every person in the group completely agrees. Just that everyone must at least minimally agree.

Consensus style decision making is not for a group of stubborn people who have to have their own way. It is for a group of people who trust and respect each other and want to work towards solving problems together by cooperating and sharing their ideas.

Once discussion starts the chairperson should always be checking to make sure the group stays on topic. There should only be one discussion at a time, one topic at a time.

Consensus decision making does not mean that everyone can talk at once – just that the group will discuss things until they reach an agreement. As the discussion goes along the chairperson should be looking for areas of agreement.

As areas of agreement or “consensus” evolve the chairperson should make sure agreement has in fact been reached and then move the discussion on to the next point. For example:

CHAIRPERSON: “It seems we agree that a letter should be sent…if everyone agrees can we have a volunteer to write the letter?…Thank you Terry…let’s move on to the next item on the agenda.”

The chairperson should also make sure all things agreed upon are also acted upon.

Just a reminder: “ACTION MINUTES” help to remind people that they have offered to take on jobs that need to be done before the committee meets again.

If an important new issue comes up during discussion the chairperson should decide whether to add it to the agenda or put it on the agenda for a future meeting. The chair should also let people know when the new issues will be discussed.

Consensus decision making can be difficult because it is a long process and any one person has the power to block a decision. At the same time, groups that work with this kind of decision making model become very strong and effective. It also tends to develop a great deal of commitment among group members which enables them to work together for a long time.

DEMOCRATIC DECISION MAKING – “VOTING”:

In this type of structure, decisions are made by voting. After the minutes have been read, and corrected (amended) when necessary, they have to be adopted or approved.

Someone puts up their hand to make a motion that the minutes be adopted (“I move that the minutes be adopted as read/as corrected”). If nobody makes the motion the chairperson asks for someone to do it. Another person should then second the motion (“I second that motion”).

After the motion has been made and seconded, the chairperson asks for discussion (“Is there any discussion on the motion?”).

After discussion the chairperson asks for a vote (“All in favour? All opposed?”).

If a majority (50% +1) of people vote in favour of the motion it is passed if a majority of people vote against the motion the motion is defeated.

The above procedure is followed for each item on the agenda (moved, seconded, discussed, passed/defeated).

Effective motions include what is to be done, who is to do it, when it is to be done and how it will be followed-up.

There is a formal set of rules called Roberts Rules of Order that describe in detail how to run meetings with a democratic model.

Voting on all decisions means that you sometimes end up with a group of people who didn’t agree with the decision that was made. This minority group has three basic choices:

  • To totally support the will of the majority

  • To withdraw from the group (by not participating or by quitting altogether)

  • To work against the majority

As you can see, voting may be a quick way of making decisions but it may work against the cohesiveness of the group.

WHICH STYLE OF MEETING DO WE USE?

Regardless of which style you choose be sure to make sure all people at the meeting understand it. If you are going to use democratic decision making (Roberts Rules of Order), you might want to do a mini-workshop for committee members and supply a list of rules to each member.

For large meetings we recommend democratic decision making procedure because it is more structured and helps to keep better control when you have many people. If possible try to do a short orientation of the procedure and provide a hand-out of instructions and terms. You will find that some tenants already know how to follow Roberts’ Rules and eventually others will catch on. BE PATIENT.

For smaller meetings consensus style may be better. However, some executive committees have found that at the beginning even the small meetings work better with Roberts’ Rules. Once the group is a little more experienced they can move to a more consensus based style.

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THINGS TO AVOID

  • Do not get involved with disputes between two tenants (e.g. noise complaints). Your tenants’ association is not the landlord. You may want to suggest to the tenant to try and talk about their concerns with the other tenant in a positive way first. If that does not work you should let the tenants know that it’s the landlord’s responsibility to secure each tenant’s enjoyment of their home under the Tenant Protection Act. Your should also give them the name and phone number of the nearest legal clinic where they can get some more help.

  • Do not become unpaid (and uninsured) security guards and maintenance workers. The landlord is supposed to take care of the upkeep, maintenance and repairs and to be sure that the building is safe and secure.

  • Do not allow the landlord, or any of the landlord’s staff, membership in the tenants’ association (including superintendents that live in the building). The association could end up in a conflict with the landlord. Having the landlord or her/his staff as members would make things very complicated.

  • Do not give out legal advice. You are not lawyers. After a few years you get a lot of skills, in filling out ORHT applications for example, and can offer some help to tenants. But remember, you should always give tenants further resources. Again, your nearest legal clinic can usually help.

  • Do not speak for the tenants’ association unless you have been given permission by the executive committee. The committee may elect or appoint a member who is trusted and reasonable as a spokesperson (for the landlord, media, etc.) This person is often the committee chairperson or vice-chairperson, but not always.

Last Revised Wednesday August 11, 2004