URBANA — Champaign-Urbana residents concerned about rising rent prices have formed a new organization to address the issue.
The CU Renters Initiative hosted a town hall Wednesday night at the Channing Murray Foundation in Urbana. A small group of attendees gathered to share their experiences with rising rent and cost of living and difficult landlords, and discuss what they can do about it together.
The CU Renters Initiative aims to educate and unite tenants across the Champaign-Urbana area, said Rebekah, one of the organizers who asked we use only their first name because they fear retaliation from their landlord.
“I’ve talked to a lot of tenants who have been really exploited by their landlords,” Rebekah said. “Some people’s rent went from $1,000 a month to $1,400 in this new lease cycle. Rent is becoming increasingly unaffordable…and the conditions are getting worse as well in our apartments and in our housing.”
Rebekah said local residents are struggling due to rising rent costs, which they attribute in part to the large number of corporate landlords.
“We need less private equity and more strong organizing on the tenant front to be able to more collectively resist the problem of rising rents, rather than facing it alone,” they said.
Rebekah said the CU Renters Initiative hopes to organize with other tenant groups, like the Student Tenants United and the CU Tenants Union, to build a stronger coalition of renters.
One of the town hall attendees shared that they’ve rented an apartment with their partner for several years, but started dealing with problems when new owners bought the property.
They asked to remain anonymous because they’re in the process of signing a new lease and worry that speaking up about these issues could jeopardize that process.
“Our building got bought by new owners, and they tried to reassure us that not much would change from our previous landlord,” they said. “That quickly turned out to be very false.”
Within three months, the resident said their new landlords began pushing out longtime tenants with the justification of planned renovations.
“They have decided to try and kick out everybody in the building that has lived there for several years… and then bump up rent like $600 so that they can just have new tenants come in and pay whatever they want,” they said.
The attendee said they’re a lifelong Urbana resident and have seen the housing market change throughout the years, “from affordable to what it is now, which is just unbelievable. The cost of rent is increasing every year… while wages remain the same.”
Matthew, a master’s student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, also shared his frustrations about renting with a corporate landlord. He asked we only use his first name out of fear that he might be unable to re-sign his lease.
“They don’t care,” he said. “They don’t upkeep the properties beyond the bare minimum.”
Matthew said he feels disrespected by his landlords and believes they “use ending your lease and giving it to somebody else as a threat” to make you sign a new lease with them.
“Whenever they came into my room to show it… they basically threatened to fine me for my room being slightly dirty,” he said.
Matthew said renters deserve to be treated with dignity and not just as a source of income.
The group is planning additional meetups. Rebekah said they hope to work with other tenant organizations to create a strong tenant network.
“It’s going to keep getting worse until we do something about it,” they said. “We shouldn’t expect anyone to come in and save us… We need to advocate for ourselves.”