Abolish rent How tenants can solve the housing crisis

Los Angeles holds one of the largest unhoused populations in the U.S., the city's wealth disparity making encampments for the destitute as prominent as its manicured mansions. Out-of-control rent increases and renters' inability to tolerate them have resulted in even more displaced citizens. Fed up with the uneven power dynamic between landlord and tenant and landlords' refusal to repair their properties while still increasing monthly rents, a group of people formed the L.A. Tenants Union in order to bargain for their housing rights. From building to building, inhabitants of various apartment complexes may not speak the same language, but they are unified in resistance. Rosenthal and Vilchis show how our current housing crisis goes much deeper than homeowners defaulting on faulty mortgages. They deftly offer examples of renters challenging landlords and emerging victorious--particularly in the case of the 2016 Boyle Heights renter strike--and provide rational solutions to renter-owner conflict, such as rent cancellation if sufficient repairs are not made. At its core, this is a book about community empowerment.