Support the Tenants Union!
Washington State tenants have won important legal protections, but these rights don't go far enough. Members help build the movement to protect and expand tenants rights and make the promise of safe, healthy, affordable housing a reality.
Tenants Union Membership
The Tenants Union builds power in the movement for tenants’ rights and housing justice.
Enjoy this video of the dynamic stories and leadership of TU members, and please support YOUR Tenants Union by making a gift or becoming a member.
Access to housing, affordability, safe and healthy living conditions, eviction prevention and the power to assert our rights are only the beginning. Tenants need information about their rights and how to use them, stronger protections, and meaningful ways to enforce the law. With a proud 35-year history of work for housing justice through education and organizing, the TU is uniquely well-suited to respond to the challenges renters face in Washington State. Members are the heart and strength of the TU’s work. Join today!
Have you gotten help from the TU’s tenant rights hotline? Are you are passionate about empowering tenants with the information to keep themselves & their families safety housed? The Tenants Union occasionally trains volunteers to provide housing counseling to tenants seeking to understand and assert their rights. Tenant Counselors are trained in landlord-tenant matters and listen to tenants’ concerns, ask questions to draw out key information, and identify the housing issues. Counselors are knowledgeable in state and local housing laws, and explain the options a tenant may use to resolve their housing crisis. Tenant Counselors do not give legal advice, but do connect tenants to information, tools and resources, TU membership, organizing and advocacy for housing justice.
It’s about Fair Treatment
- Over one third of Washington State residents are renters. Seattle is home to over 500,000 tenants.
- There are no mechanisms for the enforcement of landlord-tenant laws, and landlords are not licensed or regulated in any way. Landlord-tenant laws in Washington State are considered “self-help.”
- Tenants who assert their rights often face retaliation in the form of eviction. Landlord-tenant laws are outdated, difficult to understand, and weighted towards landlords.
The TU has won significant victories for tenants’ rights in the last 35 years. Below is a partial list of victories TU tenant leaders and members have won. See TU History for a more comprehensive list of Tenants Union work through the last 35 years.
Legislative Advocacy
“The TU is a powerful political voice for renters.”
– City Councilmember Nick Licata
“I just think what you’re doing is so valuable. I don’t know what I would have done [if the illegal eviction hadn’t been stopped]. It’s not like people can just walk away from needing shelter. I’ve had so many lucky things happen…and the first lucky thing was that I went to the Tenants Union for help.”
– Mary Czerniski, Tenants Union Member
You can become a member, renew your membership, or make a donation to the Tenants Union in three ways:
1) Online through the Network for Good website.
2) Over the Phone by calling us at (206) 722-6848 × 3.
3) By Mail by filling out the Membership Donation Form, or writing your Name, Address, Phone, Email and sending with your Membership Dues to:
Join the Tenants Union if:
- You believe that every renter deserves safe, affordable housing free from discrimination, retaliation and eviction threats. Members are people who share the Tenants Union’s values and vision for housing justice and are willing to make an annual donation to support the work.
- You got help through the Tenants Union’s Education Program or website. The TU is a small but extraordinarily powerful organization that provides Education Program services to over 1,400 Washington State renters a year. We’re able to offer these services for free across the state because of the financial support of tenants like you.
