Olympia WA: Solidarity Network Launches New Tenant Campaign

Olympia Solidarity Network reports that they have launched a new campaign in Olympia, Washington against a landlord who has “skyrocketed monthly rents from approximately $650 to $895 over the last 3 years.”

On May 2nd, Olympia Solidarity Network (OlySol) launched a new campaign for improved living conditions at a west Olympia apartment complex. OlySol members and supporters delivered a demand letter en masse to the landlord, demanding repairs, an end to tenant harassment and a freeze on rents for the next two years. The letter stipulated that the demands must be executed within the next 14 days, or further action would taken.

The landlord in question has skyrocketed monthly rents from approximately $650 to $895 over the last 3 years, stretching the budgets of working class tenants. Repairs are often delayed or refused. When repairs are made, they are executed incompetently and without professional labor, exacerbating the already poor living conditions of tenants. Tenants are subject to invasive surveillance, needless inconveniences, and abuses—with harassment particularly directed towards women and queer people.

The demand letter also guaranteed that if the demands are not met in 14 days, that the apartment complex’s name will be published by OlySol. It is hoped that this promise will convince the landlord to execute the demands quickly and efficiently.