[discuss-dan] Buying versus Rent Strike in Denver

[Allen Butcher <allenbutcher@netzero.net>]

Thanks for bringing this up, Doug.  I think this is another one of those 
things where we have an opportunity to work for what we want as well as, or 
instead of, just against what we don't want.

(I'm going to try to say this succinctly and hope that I still get my 
meaning across, without leaving out too much.)

I think that if the goal is to work toward a world, or at least some part 
of a world, that is founded and works on the basis of values of caring and 
sharing and of social and environmental responsibility, it's necessary to 
not just demonstrate against negative things, like calling for a rent 
strike or rent control, but also to work for positive things, in this case 
ownership of real estate.

I think that helping people get out of paying rent entirely, not just 
avoiding the paying of exhorbitant rents, is a very good "direct action" 
strategy.  I suspect that for some people, however, if a strategy doesn't 
involve street protests and court dates it somehow isn't radical 
enough.  And especially if the strategy involves learning and utilizing the 
tools of the oppressive monetary and legal system many people will consider 
the strategy to be more of a sell-out than one of ingenious 
anarcho-socialist strategy.  (Yes, I'm leading into something ...)

In the interest of full disclosure I'd have to say that the ultimate goal 
is to create an economic structure that supports the values of sharing and 
cooperation and participation in governance, as opposed to the values of 
possessiveness, competition and authoritarianism.  The tenant-landlord 
relationship is obviously supportive of and supported by the latter.  So 
also, obviously, is the monetary economy in general (believe me, I have 
done a lot of writing on this subject, but I can't get into that here).  An 
economic system that supports the former set of economic values, however, 
is the time economy.  I won't go into that, but suffice it to say that 
there IS an alternative economic system, it doesn't use money, instead it 
uses contributions of time or labor, in order to build upon the values of 
sharing and cooperation, and there are many ways of doing that.  Just keep 
in mind that that is the long range goal.

To get there, however, requires more steps than I've been able to map out 
so far, but one of the first steps is certainly to get people out of having 
to pay rent for housing.  Now sure, rent is fine for the short term, but 
not for more than a couple years at most, and not for those who plan to 
stay in one area for the foreseeable future.

Therefore, (I'll cut to the chase) I would suggest that instead of 
organizing a rent strike campaign, people organize a home-ownership 
campaign.  And take it further.  We don't have to perpetuate the form of 
single-family, inefficient housing design.  Of course, it is fine if people 
choose that, but for those who desire more community forms of housing that 
can be part of our campaign as well.

The problem is that this strategy requires using the tools of real estate 
finance and sales and assessments and development and legal structures of 
ownership and so on.  As I said, some people won't care for this.  Yet I 
would suggest that people consider that these are tools, just like any 
other tools, and also that we can employ these tools to build on the basis 
of either set of values, either the competitive world view or the 
cooperative world view.  People simply have to wake up to an understanding 
of what choices ultimately support what values, and decide to act in 
accordance with the values they espouse, in all of the economic choices we 
make.

In effect, we can use these tools of the monetary economy, developed in 
service of the ideals of competitive advantage and of concentration of 
capital, and instead use them in service of the ideals of rational altruism 
and of the sharing of real estate equity.

In general, I would say that it is always better to build something 
positive than to destroy something negative, even though I recognize that 
sometimes both are necessary.  It's just that for some reason people seem 
to find it easier to destroy than to build.

Okay, back to the chase.  The truth is, if you can pay rent you very likely 
can afford to pay a mortgage on a house (in many cases the monthly cost is 
comparable), and if you alone can't do it, then it is more likely that two 
or three people deciding to live together can afford a mortgage on a two or 
three bedroom house, where all residents get a share of the equity 
accumulation.  Thus, no landlord-tenant dynamic.  And it doesn't have to 
end there.  Many such houses together can form a larger equity-sharing 
community, even using accumulated equity to help purchase additional 
houses.  Or they could eventually put their land into a community land 
trust, removing it from the speculative market and keeping it permanently 
more affordable than the surrounding real estate market properties.  And 
this is just for starters.  Remember that the long range goal is the time 
economy.  Once people are sharing real estate equity, it becomes easier for 
them to begin to think of sharing other things as well.  (I'll stop here 
and get off that train of thought before it becomes to tangential to the 
subject-line theme.)  Remember, however, that equity sharing is not 
necessary to building community, it is just one way of doing so.  Those who 
choose to build community without equity sharing are still more a part of 
the solution than of the problem.

I have been gathering resources to develop such a project, and have begun 
building.  I've identified community-friendly real estate lawyers, real 
estate agents and real estate finance organizations here in Denver.  I'm 
now working with a real estate brokerage that is community-friendly, and I 
have all these professionals lined up to help.  Some of them don't know or 
understand community, but some do, and they all are supportive and willing 
to learn.  Mostly they just want to help people get into houses while they 
make some money.  Those are my goals too, but I add the goal of creating 
intentional community, and the difference is that I do know community!

My recent creation is a monograph (booklet) on interpersonal and group 
process in collective households and intentional communities (plus a little 
on direction action campaigns).  I'm also working on another one on legal 
structures used for different forms of intentional community.  The point is 
that we have the knowledge, skills and financial resources to help people 
get out of paying rent.  The poorest among us might have to co-own for a 
while, but they'll still be earning some equity, assuming that those with 
whom they live agree to not charge rent but instead have everyone's housing 
costs pay into their own equity account.

Of course, there are lots of issues here, and I'll wait to hear what 
comments people have.  I would like to say, however, that purchasing a 
large house and having a number of people move in is not always the best 
solution.  What might work better is for a group of people to choose a 
neighborhood to buy into, then begin buying houses that come available in 
the area.  Once people have some equity, they can then look for or buy more 
houses in that area and build a community in that way.  This is called 
"retrofit cohousing," turning an existing neighborhood into an "urban-block 
community."  I know of one group in Denver that now has two houses, and 
they would like for people to buy others on their block.

And of course, several people getting together and buying an apartment 
building is another way to build community, and in fact there is a 
Christian community here in Denver that has done that, Shepherdsgate 
Community, and also there is a Pagan group working toward a similar 
plan.  Other people have talked about buying and remodeling a warehouse for 
housing and community activities.

There is an ordinance against more than three unrelated people in one 
house, but I think that is written to relate to renters not 
co-owners.  There is more to say about this, later.

I invite anyone interested to get in touch with me about this, whether you 
are currently renting and want to find a way to buy, or if you would just 
like to help such a community housing project.  Also, please note that 
there are a couple different programs that pay the down payment for the 
buyer, so the buyer(s) don't have to have saved a lot for the downpayment, 
and several people can take advantage of these programs to buy properties 
together.

Rent is really a killer, but now we have a strategy for taking the housing 
issue beyond renting to actually being part of a strategy for social 
change.  I hope that people can see the importance of this and think about 
helping the project.  Simply letting other people who may be renting and 
who would be interested would be very helpful.

More later, if anyone is interested.  I also have an email list service in 
place to help network interested people.  Let me know if you'd like to be 
subscribed.

Thanks for reading this.
Allen
4thworld@consultant.com
allenbutcher@netzero.net



At 09:33 AM 01/25/2001 -0700, you wrote:

>Front page article from the Denver Post reveals rents rising 2.5 times the
>rate of inflation in Denver.  A five year high!  Parts of the article are
>reprinted below.
>
>I just had a 15% rent increase, myself.  Although I'm paying below the
>average rent (of $792.67, according to the article) I still can't pay on
>time, slaving a full 45 hrs/wk at $9/hr.
>Douglas Bohm 303.525.2962 doug@denverradio.org <mailto:doug@denverradio.org>


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