Hundreds of renters in St. Louis have been displaced and forced to vacate their homes in the wake of the May 16 tornado that hit St. Louis. Hundreds more are without power, resources and answers.
North St. Louis residents have expressed concerns about damage assessment tags posted on their homes. Some renters received letters from their landlords stating they need to vacate their homes due to structural damage.
“I have gotten a few calls where they're getting that 10 days to vacate notice from their landlord or their leasing company,” said Charles Buchanan, who runs the renter hotline for Tenants Transforming Greater St. Louis. “And it's not really legal because they have this lease agreement where they're supposed to keep this structural livable [and] habitable. If there are repairs that need to be made, they need to make those repairs with the tenant housed.”
Buchanan added that in their experience working with tenants, landlords get away with such practices because renters often don’t understand their rights. Buchanan and the team at Tenants Transforming Greater St. Louis work to provide renters with resources about what landlords can and can’t do.
“Tenants fall through the crack because they don't know, and that's what holds the dominant structures of landlords — allowing them to really exploit marginalized people.”
For instance, Buchanan said, if there is major structural damage, landlords are legally obligated to allow tenants to break their leases. In that case, landlords have 30 days to return security deposits to their tenants. If there is partial damage to a unit that is still livable, landlords must reduce the rent accordingly.
Tenants Transforming Greater St. Louis, formerly known as Homes for All St. Louis, was founded in 2018 as a Black- and renter-led organization designed to help marginalized renters. The nonprofit offers “Tenant-Landlord 101” workshops, as well as trainings on how to draft demand letters, create tenant unions and better understand the rights of renters. The “Housing Navigators” program shows tenants how to act as organizers and paralegals in their neighborhoods.
While they work to help individuals, Buchanan said, the goal is to transform the housing landscape for renters.
“When tenants have the correct information around the law and they know what their protections are, they're able to really use that to know their rights, to shape their story and then eventually change policy by being activated in the community,” they said.
To hear about renters rights, information regarding the city’s immediate response, the colored tags and more, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
