Detroit Tenants Rights Commission | Otter.ai

Detroit Tenants Rights Commission

Detroit Documenters44min

Speaker 1

00:07

Good evening, folks. Um, we are working to get started for me, yeah, there's more people I don't know. I just

Unknown Speaker

00:21

want to copy this excellent All right.

Speaker 1

00:29

Good

evening, everybody. Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us for the Detroit tenants rights commission meeting. Today is Thursday. Oh,

Unknown Speaker

00:42

can you hear me?

Speaker 1

00:54

Alright, alright, good. Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining us today for the tenants rights I got you. Oh, sorry about that, everybody. I know you can't hear me. Good evening, everyone. Our tenants rights commission meeting this evening. Today is Thursday, July, 31 2025 My name is Jamie Tenents Rights Commission, and I will be moderating the zoom for our meeting today, immediately. Oh, also, please be aware that for those that need it, unfortunately, our ASL interpreter will not be able to make it this evening. However, our zoom does have closed caption enabled. I do apologize for the inconvenience, um, and we're going to do our best to make sure that that is in the future. And to my right.

Speaker 2

02:13

Good afternoon everyone. My name is Sherry Smith, and I am the chair of the tenants rights commission. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Tunisia

Unknown Speaker

02:22

Sanders. I am, I guess, outreach commission. My name is Mary Cox.

Unknown Speaker

02:34

And Mary,

Speaker 3

02:36

I think we do need someone and so Possibly, yeah,

Speaker 2

02:52

just so everyone is aware we do not currently have a forum of commissioners, so we're going to wait just a few minutes. I believe of our other commissioners is very close, and we will get started in Solution rights. Is there a way to mute this? Larry,

Speaker 4

03:20

my office. Okay, you gotta work with me. Okay, when you had to talk, you just talking right there. I got you when you got to talk, like that, I think she can't do the talking because

Unknown Speaker

03:57

we may not have a forum today.

Unknown Speaker

04:02

We do Yeah, you're okay. We got three floors,

Unknown Speaker

04:13

about two thirds.

A

04:16

There's four of us out of seats as long as

Unknown Speaker

04:20

so it's a listening session. We don't have

Speaker 2

04:23

any votes. I mean, we could just do public comment, but there's not a lot of public here. I mean, you want to do public comment just on the Zoom, yeah,

Unknown Speaker

04:31

I can hear you.

Unknown Speaker

04:36

Yeah. Mute yours. Okay, Don't I?

Unknown Speaker

11:20

Check,

Unknown Speaker

11:22

I don't know, 2222,

Unknown Speaker

11:30

no, that was me. The

Unknown Speaker

11:52

so after they do their intros, then we Move to public comment. I

Unknown Speaker

12:14

documents

Unknown Speaker

12:17

are intention, 12212,

Unknown Speaker

12:26

it pretty low. Okay, you

Unknown Speaker

13:08

and then uchc,

Speaker 2

13:13

okay, like you guys, so we were thinking on Office of eviction defense. HRD, then uchc,

Unknown Speaker

13:20

perfect. Okay, okay, whenever you get right,

Unknown Speaker

13:27

and

if you have a card information

Unknown Speaker

13:31

in the chat, all right, we're ready.

Speaker 2

13:38

All right, welcome back, everyone. Thank you guys so much for your patience, because we won't be able to take on any voting action matters at this time, we will have various city departments and organizations present some of the resources that they have for renters. First up, we have the office of eviction defense with Miss Valerie.

Speaker 5

14:02

Good

evening, everyone. My name is Valerie pilot. I am the Deputy Director for the Office of eviction defense, which operates the City of Detroit's right to counsel program. Our program provides Detroit renters with free legal representation throughout their eviction process. So we are located. Our teams are always in 36 District Court in room 417, you can also email us at O, E, D, it's probably dash law l, a, w at Detroit mi.gov that email address again is O, E, D, dash law at Detroit mi.gov please do not hesitate to email us to reach out to our staff that are always at 36 district courts during the morning for the in person court sessions in room 417 you can also, so I don't know. Can they see this yet? Okay, so also, and I think HRD is here too. Okay, so HRD will give you the homeless information, but we have a flyer that has some additional information on it and contact information, which HRD representative will share with you when she comes up to introduce herself, but by all means, do not hesitate to reach out, even if you're not currently experiencing an eviction. So you haven't received a notice, but you are in alignment with where you are having difficulties with your landlord and you fear it is going in that direction, please do not hesitate to reach out to us for some assistance.

Unknown Speaker

16:11

Thank you so much.

Unknown Speaker

16:13

Yeah, well, and we'll make sure that,

Speaker 2

16:21

if everyone can, please make sure you follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We'll also be posting all the resources from tonight there, in case you don't have them. And we're also typing the email addresses in the chat on Zoom, all right. And next up, we have Michelle from HRD.

Speaker 6

16:52

Hello, hi. My name is Michelle Robinson, and I am the director of Detroit housing services within the City of Detroit's housing and revitalization department. And though, in HRD, as we are called, because housing and revitalization is super long, we do a lot of things related to housing, but today I'm here to primarily talk about the housing resource helpline. And so a couple of years ago, in partnership with Wayne Metro, Gilbert Family Foundation and a couple of other organizations, rolled out the housing resource helpline. And so essentially, the housing resource helpline is a one stop shop for all housing related issues throughout the city of Detroit. So regardless to whether or not you are a current renter, homeowner, or you are at risk of homelessness or currently experiencing homelessness, you can reach out to the housing resource helpline and receive assistance, and I'm going to give the phone number, and I will also share the flyer with you all digitally so that You all can put the flyer information in the chat. So the helpline phone number is area code 866-313-2520, and the cool thing about the helpline is that the helpline currently is open Monday through Saturday, and we are working on extending those hours and for individuals that need assistance after hours, you can call into the helpline and be directly reached out to one of our outreach teams, and in spirit of the meeting today, for individuals that need assistance, so you're facing you're having landlord tenant issues, landlord tenant concerns, you can call into the helpline for renters. It is option two. So just remember when you call in press, option two, you can be connected to legal counsel and all other things and concerns to any type of landlord tenant concern, even up through reporting bad property conditions. So the one stop shop is the housing resource helpline, and the individuals on the other end of the line, they're going to ask you a series of questions in regards to your demographics, what's happening with the home, and then connect you to the best program that meets your needs.

Speaker 2

19:26

Awesome. Thank you so much. Okay, and next we have our team from the United Community Housing Coalition. Uchc.

Speaker 7

19:38

Hi everybody. My name is Leslie Lott. I'm a supervising attorney with the United Community Housing Coalition. We are an organization that does a lot of things to help out tenants in the city of Detroit. The biggest thing that we do that Valerie mentioned is that we are the administrating agency for the right to counsel program in the city of Detroit and 36 district courts. So she everyone has talked a lot about the things, the phone numbers to call and and the right to counsel program, but I just want to encourage everyone, if you receive a notice from the court or you receive eviction Papers, Please show up to court. Please show up to the Zoom court. We are there to help. Having an attorney is is an amazing advantage, and we want you to take full advantage of that, especially through the right to counsel program. So I'll just say, please show up to court and also go to 417 within the courthouse, there's legal aid agencies there every day that can help you out. Thank you. Applause.

Speaker 7

20:53

Yeah, yes. So I know this has been in the news, and it has affect a lot of renters in the city of Detroit. Judge in Wayne County Circuit Court recently said that real token and also new Detroit property management are not allowed to temporarily collect rent or file eviction actions against tenants in their properties. So I know the city has done some outreach to properties that we know are owned by these entities. So if you receive those notices, please call the phone number that's on there as well. There is an injunction in place. So I encourage you to call the 866, number that we mentioned before. You can also call uch C's phone number, which is 313-963-3310, and there should be an attorney or other legal assistant that can give you some more direction around what to do regarding your rent, because I can imagine that as a tenant, it's a little disconcerting to hear that your landlord has a case filed against it in court, and I know there's a lot of concern, especially if you have a Section Eight housing choice voucher, what that looks like? So please reach out to the resources that we've talked about to hopefully connect you with an attorney that can give you some personal advice about your situation.

Speaker 2

22:16

Thank you so much. Leslie, so next we're going to open up for public comment. If there are any people in the room who would like to make public comment, you can come up to the microphone at this time. If not, we will move on to any of our zoom attendees. If you would like to raise your hand for public comment, you

Speaker 2

22:50

also, if anyone would like to text, would like to type their public comment into into the chat, that is also an option. I

Speaker 2

23:33

Okay, we don't have any in person. Commenters, I

Speaker 2

23:44

and we do not have any online commenters, unless someone is typing their message right now. Oh, I see one. Okay. Teddy Dorsett rights that home 365, property management is not accessible, and he would like to understand how various platforms used by landlords are effective for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing Community.

Speaker 2

24:15

Yep, and that's the home 365, property management and

Speaker 2

24:30

it says would like to understand how various platforms used by landlords are effective for the deaf and hard of hearing communities. I

Speaker 2

24:47

thank you for that comment, Teddy, we will do some research on that. Can you drop that website or to the platform in the chat for me? I

Unknown Speaker

25:03

you'll have a right in front of you. Email it to us.

Speaker 2

25:14

I Okay, as we do not currently have a quorum, we are going to be we're going to take a short recess while we await our final commissioner to arrive. Thank you so much for your patience. Everyone for sticking around and hanging out with us. We will be back as soon as We Can.

A

26:02

Yeah, you need to go outside. What do you want to do? You like eat something? You hungry. You hungry. Is there any want something to eat. I use a food for Comfort. You.

Speaker 2

41:01

Thank you. Bye, thank you all so much for joining us. We are going to return to our public comment. We have an in person resident who would like to make a comment. You would like to approach the microphone. Uh, yeah, yeah, so everyone can hear you.

Speaker 8

41:22

Okay, one second, okay, alright. Let us know when you're

Speaker 2

41:26

ready. Okay, um, one other quick announcement again. We apologize that we do not currently have ASL interpreters with us. In person. We will definitely, let's do a better job of making sure that is covered for next meeting. For our next meeting location, it will be the last Thursday of August. The location will likely be a city rec center. Please follow our Facebook and Instagram page for the announcement of exactly which location that will be alright. You ready? Yes, please state your name and let us know your

Speaker 9

41:56

comment. Hello and good afternoon, everyone. My name is Cody word. I am here on behalf of the Detroit tenants union with the prepared statement. I'll speak quick. I'm just here to deliver this message. Then, yeah, my wife, I come here to a sentiment of collective just weariness. We are tired of hearings where landlords get all the benefits while tenants are ignored. We've seen mass evictions begin to move through at a rate that are exponential. I don't seem to be slowing down. The problem isn't just bad landlords. It's a city that won't enforce its own laws. Councilman Waters says she is reforming the system, but a proposals let landlords delay compliance, which does not fix the essential housing issue. The tenants rights commission must lead with one question, is it is Detroit enforcing its loss, or is it simply comfortable to make excuses?

Unknown Speaker

42:59

That is all. Thank you, Cody, thank you. All

Speaker 2

43:04

right. Is there anyone else who would like to make a comment before we close out public comment? Anyone on Zoom? Give it a few more seconds. Okay, if no one else is here for comment. We will, oh, I'm sorry I did. There was a comment on the chat when we went on recess to ask the commissioners to reintroduce ourselves because we weren't able to be heard. So if we want to start at this end of the table with

Speaker 8

43:36

you, Mary, my name is Mary Cox. My name is Miss Tunisia Sanders. I go by Miss T Jerry

Speaker 2

43:46

Smith, and to my immediate left is Jamie Jr. And at this time, we will be moving to adjourn our meeting, as we do not have a quorum, so we will adjourn until our next meeting, which will be the end of August, please feel free to follow us at Detroit tenants rights commission on Facebook as well as Detroit tenant rights on Instagram and the same name on our YouTube page. Those will all be listed on Facebook as well. Thank you all for joining us, and please enjoy the rest of your evening.

Unknown Speaker

44:22

Good night.

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