Hell yes! There are examples all over the United States of tenants using their collective power to secure fair rents and better living conditions.

• Tenants in Brattleboro, VT successfully fought for a cap on security deposit prices. 

• Tenants in Burlington, VT successfully fought for a just-cause eviction amendment to the City charter.

• Read success stories from tenants unions in Minneapolis, Massachusetts, Chicago, and across the country.

Hell no! New apartments are going up in the Upper Valley, but they're unaffordable. Upper Valley employers are hiring new workers and can't find them suitable housing they can afford. The truth is that real estate markets have never guaranteed safe and affordable housing for all - just for the wealthy. Members of the working class have always needed to fight for the right to dignified housing against exploitative landlords and corporate interests that place profits over people.

It's not a free market for tenants. Our government helps shift the balance of power towards landlords at the expense of tenants. Landlords can write off their property maintenance expenses on their taxes, and can call the police to forcibly evict a tenant. But tenants can't call the police to report poor housing conditions, and can't write off the expenses they incur when landlords neglect needed repairs and necessities. 

We have to use our collective power to fight back.