Students had the opportunity to learn about their rights as tenants at a workshop Nov. 16.
ACORN is a non-profit national organization that helps bring attention and change to unfit housing conditions.
The workshop covered what students’ basic rights are as tenants, how to organize a tenant campaign, and how to address the current issue in South Keys.
Every tenant is entitled to hydro, water, heat, proper maintenance, no mold, and no pests, according to Kevin Kinsella, one of ACORN’s leaders.
Michelle Walrond, another ACORN leader, said landlords “have this idea that university students are middle class people who don’t pay taxes and don’t work, and they live some cushy lifestyle, but that’s not true.”
ACORN broke students off into groups, which focused on techniques for creating a successful campaign that will make landlords address issues tenants are facing.
“The main goal is to solve the problem and make the landlord aware of it,” Walrond said.
Student tenants may find their landlords are discriminating against them by not treating them as adults, Kinsella said.
“If you are living on your own, then you are an adult,” she said. “Don’t let them tell you anything else. It is discrimination because they’re scared about the parties and the noise.”
ACORN also addressed Carleton Condominium Corporation No 24’s ban on landlords renting units to students.
Kinsella said if students want to fight the ban, then they have to take a legal stance.
“I believe you will win if you bring it to court and can fight it all the way through,” Kinsella said.
He also suggested the students living in the condos come together and form a meeting.
“If you can get a meeting together, then you are way ahead,” he said.
“It is not just about finding an issue and jumping into it,” Walrond said. “There are a lot of steps in between.”