We are a grassroots organization made up of working class tenants with a focus on disproportionately Black working class tenants in a state with one of the highest eviction rates in the country. We believe housing, healthcare, and a living wage are human rights.
We first came together during the pandemic to support tenants in organizing against evictions, foreclosures, utility shut offs and other inhumane living conditions. Now we work to push back against and transform the systems that force people into poverty and homelessness.
We do this through mutual aid, political education, and basebuilding. We seek to build people power and increase tenant rights on a local, state, and federal level like:
- Rent regulations: The Federal Housing Finance Agency should protect tenants by limiting annual rent hikes to 1.5 times the Consumer Price Index or 3%, whichever is lower, in properties with federally backed mortgages. These limits should be applied universally as a requirement to all federally backed mortgage programs.
- Eviction Right to Counsel: South Carolina has an opportunity to level the playing field by securing the right to representation for eviction defense statewide. Right to representation measures ensure that renters who are facing the complex process of an eviction proceeding are guaranteed legal representation — giving renters a fair chance to access legal protections and stay in their homes.
- Tenant Right to Organize: Tenants have the right to form tenants’ unions or resident councils free from fear of retaliation from the landlord or managing agent. Ownership and management representatives must not interfere with the creation or actions of tenant organizations.
Being a member means you have a stake: a sense of shared ownership and responsibility for our work. Together we’re building a force capable of making a real impact on the issues we care about — to make South Carolina feel like home for us all.
We host a coalition of community grassroots organizations committed to tenant protection and equitable housing for all.
Become a member of your local SC Housing Justice Network chapter/union
- Tricounty Tenants ( Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester County)
- Columbia Tenants ( Richland, Lexington,and Calhoun County)
If there’s not a SC Housing Justice chapter near you (yet):
- Become a Member at Large Member
Membership dues are annual. Suggested membership dues are $15/year. However, any yearly contribution from $1 - $100/year will give you an equal stake as a member in our organization. Those who are able are invited to invest at an extra-give rate starting at $50/year. Every dollar helps us expand our work.
