Community activists and residents of rental properties stood Wednesday afternoon outside the entrance to Buffalo City Court - physically distanced - calling for the city's lawmakers to pass a ten-item list of protections they call the Buffalo Tenants Bill of Rights.
Members of PUSH Buffalo, which is behind the Tenants Bill of Rights, say many low-income tenants who were already struggling against gentrification will again find themselves vulnerable once the pandemic eases.
"There's a lot of concern about about what's going to happen afterward," said Angel Rosado, PUSH Buffalo Street Team member. "Now, there's so much support, quote-unquote support. You know, 'oh, everything's gonna be okay, we're gonna get through this.' But then once the pandemic itself starts to really pass, all of the smoke and mirrors and support that people say they're going to get from our government is actually not going to be the case."
The Buffalo Tenants Bill of Rights include a right to just cause for eviction and a right to legal representation in Buffalo City Housing Court. Rosado and his colleagues say once the pandemic eases, the moratorium on evictions will be lifted and many tenants will be at risk.
"We're going to see the courts be flooded with the eviction notices and cases," Rosado said. "There's a lot of people right now worried about what's going to happen. Even if they are justified, with how many cases that are going to be in the court, how are they going to even be handled properly?"
Other provision in the Tenants Bill of Rights include a right to know the identification of the building owner, the right to timely repairs, the right to non-English language access in housing court, housing stability, rent control, first right of refusal and first right of return in displacement cases, the right to representation by a housing advocate within city government, and the establishment of a fund from which tenants may seek relief in the event they lose a job and are unable to make a rent payment.
"That will be given out in the form of grants or low-interest loans for people to pay their rent," Rosado said.
