Renew on Merritt Tenant Union Lawyer Fund

The Re|New on Merritt Tenant Council is raising money to hire a lawyer on retainer to represent us in our struggle for dignified and humane treatment from our landlord, FPA Multifamily, and property manager, Trinity Property Consultants. We are working-class families and multigenerational households of diverse backgrounds. Many of us are immigrants who face a language barrier. Most of us have lived here for over a decade. We are rent striking to demand the acknowledgment of the Tenant Council to ensure management focuses their efforts on ways to improve our quality of life in the building.

Meanwhile, their main focus has been on cosmetic updates so that they can continue to increase rent and contribute to the displacement of tenants in Oakland. We are fighting against the harassment and intimidation we have been met with by management, who has threatened us with legal action. On Wednesday, September 21st, they brought police into the building to intimidate residents into letting them into their apartments without cause.

We are now raising funds to hire an attorney to represent us as well as to hire private inspectors to evaluate our individual and collective concerns.

Here is a short list of some of the additional reasons why we are withholding rent until the Tenant Council is acknowledged and our demands are met:

We have come together to demand change through collective action and as a united front to ensure everyone's rights in the building are upheld.

Please donate what you can to help us with our cause.

Most grateful,

The Re|New on Merritt Tenants Council