Rent was due on April 1. For millions of people across the country who had lost their jobs, paying it was nearly impossible. For these tenants, there was only one solution:

They informed their landlords they were going on strike.https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧵" title="Thread" aria-label="Emoji: Thread">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Down pointing backhand index" aria-label="Emoji: Down pointing backhand index"> http://read.medium.com/FxdXj54 ">https://read.medium.com/FxdXj54&q...

Data shows that 31% of renters across the country didn’t pay on April 1.

Nearly 10 million people were already struggling to afford rent before the #Covid19 crisis, and there are estimates that at least 1.5 million will now be in the same boat. http://read.medium.com/FxdXj54 ">https://read.medium.com/FxdXj54&q...

Rent strikers face an uneven legal landscape: Under normal circumstances, there’s nothing preventing a landlord from evicting someone who refuses to pay rent.

But some cities and states have issued measures to keep tenants from being kicked out, for now. http://read.medium.com/FxdXj54 ">https://read.medium.com/FxdXj54&q...

In New York City, rent strikes have worked before:

A 1907 strike paved the way for rent control in the state. And in the 1960s, rent strikers succeeded in legalizing tenants’ power to withhold rent over shoddy housing conditions. http://read.medium.com/FxdXj54 ">https://read.medium.com/FxdXj54&q...

There’s also power in numbers, especially amidst a pandemic.

If a landlord evicts the entire building, they will likely have a hard time filling those units with people who are willing, and able, to pay. http://read.medium.com/FxdXj54 ">https://read.medium.com/FxdXj54&q...

For many renters, withholding rent isn’t an attack on landlords—rather, it’s meant to call into question the entire system that allowed this predicament to emerge.

Full story: http://read.medium.com/FxdXj54 ">https://read.medium.com/FxdXj54&q...