The tenants of the Terraces on Brompton delivered demands to their landlord, Fat Property, who is hiking rent substantially amid declining conditions.
HOUSTON, TEXAS—The tenants of The Terraces on Brompton, in the Braeswood area, have united under the banner of Brompton Mutual Aid and delivered their demand letter to the complex’s new owner, Fat Property.
Brompton Mutual Aid began meeting in March 2021, doing things like sharing meals and community gardening, with the shared desire to connect with neighbors after a year of uncertainty. Since Fat Property took over their home in June 2021, tenants faced problems including disconnected utilities, untimely and negligent maintenance, sewage problems, malfunctioning gates, leaking roofs, inoperable elevators, and recurring thefts from vehicles. As conditions worsened, the group reached out to the Houston Tenants Union for help organizing for better living conditions.
Beginning in October, tenants learned that Fat Property was asking for up to an additional $200/month on lease renewals. The rent hike constitutes a 15-25% increase over current rates, which most tenants simply cannot afford, but the community is committed to preventing Fat Properties from pushing them out of their homes. More than 100 tenants signed onto the demand letter, with demands including a 4% cap on rent increases, repairs to neglected laundry machines and broken elevators and timely, satisfactory repairs to serious issues like sewage backups, roof leaks.
Dozens of tenants delivered those demands to management on December 4, 2021, see video below:
So far Fat Property have not responded to Brompton tenants’ demands and have made no effort to communicate with them or address their needs, but they did make the effort to talk with the press to protect their image. Here is a statement from Brompton Mutual Aid:
“Why is Fat Property responding to journalists, but not talking to their tenants? We expect management will continue to deny our grievances and gaslight us about our experiences. Unfortunately for them, avoiding us is not a solution. We made clear, serious, timebound demands, and will follow up on them with collective power. Our first demand - the 4% cap on rent increases - stands regardless of whether Fat owns up to the rent hike they decided to impose. If Fat wants to claim that they are already meeting expectations for maintenance and upkeep, then they should have no problem accepting our second and third demands. Fat Property has repeatedly violated tenant leases, ignored their duty to repair, and as a result threatened the health and safety of their tenants.”
Brompton tenants have continued meeting, organizing, building community and planning future actions. Since the demand delivery they have continued escalating with phone blasts and a review bomb on Fat Property. You can help out their campaign by participating in the review bomb using these instructions.
Follow Brompton Mutual Aid on Twitter @AidBrompton.
Houston Tenants Union is an organization of tenants in Houston, Texas, committed to collective direct action, independence and rank-and-file democracy. Houston Tenants Union launched in June 2019, initiated by tenant organizers who were previously a part of Southwest Defense Network, Third Ward Defense Network, 2100 Memorial Campaign, Industrial Workers of the World - General Defense Committee, and other housing/tenant and labor movement work.