Regional Renters Association of Southern Oregon

Lovegrowing is proud to introduce a project we’re sponsoring, the Southern Oregon chapter of a new not for profit association called Regional Renters Association. RRA will be an advocacy group that supports renters to have fair, safe and healthy homes while providing valuable services to it’s members that elevate their quality of life. The association will have low monthly membership rates ($5) that can be individually paid per household by the tenants or offered by the landlords as part of the rent. These funds will allow the association to provide legal services, security patrols, mediation/conflict resolution and hold property owners and management companies accountable.

Many people have had negative experiences with greedy and predatory property management companies and landlords, RRA will level the playing field for people who can’t afford the time or money to fight back when needed. The association will be guided by a member elected board and follow member created guidelines for how it operates and what services it provides it’s members. RRA will establish a certification process for property owners and management companies that will grade them and hold them accountable to standards for security, maintenance and ethical relations with tenants on all levels, including pricing. Working together RRA will require sustainable practices for waste management, non-toxic maintenance and establish standards that will make our community better for everyone.

Property certifications will require managers and owners to sign agreements to follow RRA established guidelines and standards and will be maintained in order to remain certified. Members will also sign agreements to follow a code of conduct and guidelines established by RRA to maintain membership. All agreements will be evaluated and re-adopted or modified annually by the membership, the board and managers representatives.

The types of benefits and projects that RRA undertakes will be adopted based on member recommendations and voting. Some examples of the types of benefits that will be established are group renters insurance policy available for anyone. Collective bargaining will make the cost more affordable than individually acquiring it. The creation of cooperative laundry facilities that are maintained by RRA for the sole use of members and available for all members in good standing with low or no additional costs to use. The creation of cooperative automotive repair facilities with all the tools and equipment needed for mechanical repairs with minimal costs, based on time use, that have access to professionals and knowledge resources. The establishment of contracts with security companies that will be on-call 24/7 for minor issues that the police won’t address like midnight dumpster divers and vandalism issues.

The stronger RRA grows the more impact it will have to lower costs of living, improve quality of life and increase the safety of our region for everyone. For the cost of a cup of coffee each month, 2,000 households can create a starting budget of $10,000 a month. RRA doesn’t need to build large overhead, the majority of it’s operations can be done remotely by a team of volunteers and people work trading for their memberships. The meetings of the board and members can be held at a number of facilities in each community (churches, libraries, event spaces, businesses, etc) for people coming in person, virtually for those attending from homes and networked together to allow for collaboration and voting. The money will be used for the actual programs and services and can include creating paid positions for full and part time staff as needed. Things like paying attorneys, security companies and other vendors for their services.

It would probably be impossible for one business to try and build something like this but RRA will work to use what’s already here in new ways, bringing together many different companies and organizations to be successful. Creating win win relationships that strengthen our economy. Weaving together threads from all the people, organizations and businesses in our region RRA will establish an unstoppable force for positive change and do it in a transparent and repeatable way that other regions around the world can follow. Starting in Southern Oregon, from Klamath Falls to Grants Pass, spreading throughout the State of Jefferson region and beyond we can take a stand together, starting in our homes, and build a better future for our children.

What about non-renters? There’s no rules that say RRA has to be RRA, it could be Sustainable Housing Association and include more types of members and assist home owners with issues they experience. It can start new organizations when needed and new businesses or whole new industries to accomplish its goals. A not for profit association may have to pay taxes for certain things but it provides a very low cost structure to organize that can be implemented by a small number of people today. Membership costs can be sliding scale, and adapt with the needs of the association. It can create as many revenue streams as needed to accomplish the members goals and they can have confidence in the integrity of the association and know the funds are going into programs instead of making people more money.

Lovegrowing would like to get your feedback about this project. What do you like about it? What would you contribute? What do you see as roadblocks to this project? Who do you see as allies in the creation of this? We’ll be putting out a survey soon and collecting feedback to guide the next steps, we’d really appreciate yours. If you’re ready to join the development team today email devteam@lovegrowing.life and for all other feedback please email us at input@lovegrowing.life