New California tenant protections are in effect!
Contact us at info@berkeleytenants.org if you have any questions!
Contact us at info@berkeleytenants.org if you have any questions!
Berkeley tenants now have additional protections! Contact us at info@berkeleytenants.org to unionize your building or to ask us questions about new protections!
Join us Sunday, November 24 for our regular membership meeting! We will be meeting from 4:00pm to 5:30pm at Grassroots House (2022 Blake Street). The meeting will also be a potluck, and you can sign-up here to let everyone know what you’re bringing!
Ads that link to here are paid for by the Berkeley Tenants Union PAC, FPPC #1469678. Major funding provided by the Berkeley Tenants Union, Berkeley, CA ($1,600).
Ads that link to here are paid for by the Berkeley Tenants Union PAC, FPPC #1469678. Major funding provided by the Berkeley Tenants Union, Berkeley, CA ($1,600).
Local Candidates and Ballot Measures
State Candidates and Ballot Measures
Join us this Sunday, September 22 for our regular membership meeting! We will be meeting from 4:00pm to 5:30pm at Grassroots House (2022 Blake Street). The meeting will also be a potluck, and you can sign-up here to let everyone know what you’re bringing!
Finally, we’re excited to announce our guest speaker for this Sunday’s membership meeting is City Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra!
Join us this weekend to kick-off BTU-endorsed campaigns for the November election!
On Saturday from 6pm to 8pm at Grassroots House (2022 Blake St), we’ll be hosting the campaign kickoff for the Right to Housing Slate for Rent Board and Jenny Guarino for City Council. This will be a fundraiser for the candidates, so we encourage you to bring your checkbook. (No one will be turned away for lack of a donation.)
All five candidates (Jenny + the four members of the slate) are using public financing, which means the city’s Fair Elections Fund will match donations from Berkeley residents by a ratio of 6-1. That means, for example, if you donate $10 to a candidate, they will receive $70, and if you donate $60 then they will receive $420! (You may donate up to $60 to each candidate, for a total of $300 total, which would become $2100 after matching funds are applied.)
Sunday is a two-parter at San Pablo Park (look for us next to the community center). From 3pm to 5pm, we’ll be holding our membership meeting and potluck (sign-up to bring a dish here). Then from 5pm to 8pm, we’re launching our first canvass for the November election! We’ll be campaigning for the Right to Housing Slate, the Tenant Protection & Right to Organize Act, Jenny Guarino, and Jovanka Beckles.
You can RSVP for this weekend’s kickoffs here. And you can sign-up to bring a dish for Sunday’s potluck here.
Want to donate but can’t make it this weekend? You can find the donation links for the Right to Housing Slate here and for Jenny here.
Earlier this month, our members voted to make the following endorsements:
Our members also voted to endorse Regional Measure 4 ($20 billion affordable housing bond). However, BAHFA voted to withdraw Measure 4 while our membership vote was ongoing.
Additionally, our members previously voted to endorse:
The BTU membership also previously voted to endorse YES on a ballot measure to repeal Article XXXIV of the California Constitution. However, the State Legislature subsequently withdrew that measure from the ballot.
Join us Sunday, August 25 from 3PM to 5PM at San Pablo Park (2800 Park Street) for our next regular membership meeting! This meeting will be a potluck, so we encourage you to bring food to share with other members! The main topics of this meeting will be finalizing our November endorsements and organizing for the November election.
After the meeting finishes, we will hold a canvass for the Rent Board Slate and Jenny Guarino for City Council District 2. You can RSVP for the canvass here.
**If your landlord threatens to evict you for ANY reason, immediately email info@berkeleytenants.org with the subject line “I AM BEING EVICTED” so we can provide you help ASAP. (California tenants outside Berkeley should call Tenants Together at 888-495-8020.) Because of the extremely unfair legal deadlines for tenants facing evictions, it is crucial for tenants to react very quickly to eviction notices (even for blatantly illegal evictions). Do NOT wait to use our counseling clinic if you are facing an eviction.**
BTU is proud to hold a free monthly counseling clinic, where any East Bay* tenant may speak with a professional tenant attorney. Our next clinic will take place THURSDAY, June 27 from 3PM to 5PM via phone. In order to use the clinic, you must sign-up for a spot here by 11:59PM FRIDAY, June 23 (i.e. FOUR days before the clinic). However, we only have a very limited number of spots available; priority is always given to BTU members (see below for how to join or renew your dues), followed by sign-up order. (Members are also told about our clinics earlier than non-members.)
You can join BTU/pay your dues by clicking the yellow “Donate” button in the upper-right corner of our website. Dues are a sliding scale of just $10 – $27 per year; however, those who can afford to pay more are strongly encouraged to do so. If you’d prefer to pay dues by cash or check (which lets BTU avoid paying a transaction fee), please email info@berkeleytenants.org to have someone come pick up your dues in-person (we’ll do so in a way that maintains proper social distancing).
* Our clinics’ tenant attorneys are unfortunately only able to assist tenants living in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. If you are a tenant who lives in Solano County (or anywhere else in California), we encourage you to call Tenants Together at 888-495-8020 for counseling.