What the people want and what the politicians want in regards to housing issues are not at all the same

Last week, GRIID attended and wrote about the Rent is Too Damn High rally held in Lansing.

The several hundred people from across Michigan who showed up had a list of very clear demands, which we cited in our article. These demands were not mild reforms, but they do provide a clear alternative to the market-driven housing crisis that always put profits over people.

On Sunday, MLive posted an article entitled, Back In The Cap’tol Again: Your guide to Michigan politics. The article lists several issues that state legislators, particularly Democratic Party legislators will tackle this fall. 

The article does mention the Rent is Too Damn High Rally held in Lansing. Which stated: 

Housing advocates and tenant rights groups called for legal reforms as rents increase. Average Michigan rent has risen 22% in three years, and some speakers complained of $100+ hikes in one year. 

“Many people don’t want to buy a house,” rally co-organizer Jonathan Evans told MLive, “and they can live a happy, fulfilling life renting, but not when they’re being constantly overcharged.”

When the article states “Housing advocates and tenant rights groups called for legal reforms,” the MLive reporter misrepresents what the rally organizers were calling for. The article goes on to cite Rep. Emily Dievendorf, D-Lansing, who said there are going to be 15 – 20 bills that will focus on the following issues: 

• Clarifying tenants’ rights to organize 
• Requiring landlords pay for relocating tenants with red-tagged buildings 
• Establishing standard criteria for what is a safe and livable dwelling

What is instructive is that the items listed by the Democratic State Legislator were not really part of the demands that the statewide coalition were making, besides some vague language around tenant rights. And for those who don’t remember or never saw demands from the Rent is Too Damn High rally, here are those 4 demands:

Rent Control – Remove the state-wide ban on rent control so municipalities can take action to stabilize rents and protect tenants. Rent control is any policy that directly regulates or limits landlords’ ability to raise rents on an annual basis. For instance, a city may limit increases to a certain percentage, or according to some other formula. Rent control provides tenants with the security of knowing they won’t be priced out due to arbitrary and excessive increases in rent. These types of local policies were banned by the state legislature in 1988. We support a repeal of this ban on rent control.

Social Housing – $4 billion for social housing in FY25 state budget. “Social housing is a public option for housing that is permanently affordable, protected from the private market, and publicly owned by the government or under democratic community control by non-profit and cooperative entities. Around the world, robust social housing programs have ended affordable housing shortages; expanded democratic accountability and equitable housing access; and raised populations out of poverty and into prosperity.” Social housing is built to house people well, rather than deliver a profit to developers & managers. States and municipalities in the US are initiating social housing programs anchored by a new generation of public-sector housing development agencies. We support a $4 billion state infusion into social housing, to be administered regionally by public developers. This amount could directly support approximately 40-50,000 new social housing units, which would make significant progress towards the state-established goal of building 75,000 total new homes over the next 5 years.

Housing First – $1 billion for people experiencing and at risk of homelessness in FY25 state budget. Housing First is a successful and evidence-based approach to reducing homelessness that focuses on providing housing to people, rather than criminalizing or pathologizing them. We support a $1 billion state infusion into programs of direct service, rapid rehousing, and permanent supportive housing, with a housing first lens. These funds should be distributed and administered regionally.

A Renter’s Bill of Rights – Renters around the country are insisting on more protections against landlord abuse and empowerment of renters as a class. Michigan renters need these rights and protections as much as any. A Renters Bill of Rights may include fair chance housing for returning citizens, tenants’ right to organize and have counsel, relocation assistance in case of red tagging, increased safety inspection standards, legal protection against discrimination based on housing status, just cause eviction, renter agency for repairs, a ban on hidden rental fees, and other such policies.

There was also a hyperlink to a previous article where Rep. Emily Dievendorf, D-Lansing was talking about the list of housing bills they were going to put forth in the fall. At one point in that article she states: 

“All of the legislation we will have introduced in the fall related to housing are meant to function in complementary ways in order to ensure that we really are getting to the root of homelessness, making housing more affordable, making it more accessible and keeping people in safe and livable homes.” 

While these comments sound positive, the bills they are proposing will not address root causes, nor will it make housing truly affordable for most renters who are being priced out in the current housing crisis, since the root cause is the fact that housing is driven by profits rather than being a human right.