Abolish Rent audiobook cover - How Tenants Can End the Housing Crisis

Abolish Rent

How Tenants Can End the Housing Crisis

Tracy Rosenthal, Leonardo Vilchis

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EconomicsSociety & CulturePolitics

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Abolish Rent
The Capitalist Housing Crisis+
Historical Roots of Exploitation+
The Power of Rent Strikes+
Building Tenant Unions+
Reclaiming Housing as a Human Right+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 7
According to the book, what is the fundamental root cause of the modern housing crisis in the United States?
  • A. A simple lack of available housing supply to meet the rapidly growing population demand.
  • B. A capitalist system designed to prioritize profit and wealth extraction for landlords and developers over people's needs.
  • C. The failure of the modern tenant class to save enough money for homeownership down payments.
  • D. The over-regulation of the real estate market by local governments, which stifles new construction.
Question 2 of 7
How did New Deal housing policies and subsequent real estate lobbying shape the US housing landscape?
  • A. They established a universal public housing program that effectively eliminated urban homelessness for several decades.
  • B. They created equitable homeownership opportunities for all working-class Americans, regardless of race or background.
  • C. They boosted homeownership but deepened racial inequality through practices like redlining, while lobbying capped the reach of public housing.
  • D. They abolished exclusionary zoning laws to integrate urban neighborhoods and equalize property values.
Question 3 of 7
In the 2017 Los Angeles rent strike at 'Mariachi Crossing,' what was a crucial tactic that gave the tenants leverage against their new landlord?
  • A. Only the tenants who could not afford the rent increase withheld their payments to avoid legal trouble.
  • B. The tenants immediately bought the building from the landlord using a cooperative loan.
  • C. The tenants successfully lobbied the city council to pass a new rent control law specifically for their building.
  • D. Tenants who could afford the rent withheld it in solidarity with those who could not, refusing individual deals.
Question 4 of 7
Why do the authors argue that relying on elected representatives to overhaul housing policies is often an unrealistic path to securing housing rights?
  • A. Politicians frequently accept donations from the powerful real estate industry, which holds considerable sway over policy decisions.
  • B. Elected officials do not have the constitutional authority to enact rent control or tenant protections.
  • C. Tenants make up a very small minority of the population, making them an insignificant voting bloc.
  • D. The federal government has banned local municipalities from passing any new housing legislation.
Question 5 of 7
Which of the following is one of the five core principles recommended by the authors for building collective power through tenant unions?
  • A. Encouraging tenants to invest collectively in the stock market to transition to homeownership.
  • B. Reclaiming shared spaces, such as holding meetings in lobbies or planting community gardens.
  • C. Focusing exclusively on legal battles in court rather than relying on community organizing.
  • D. Establishing a strict, top-down hierarchical leadership structure within the union.
Question 6 of 7
How did the policies of the 1980s, particularly the expansion of the prison system, impact housing insecurity?
  • A. The expansion of prisons reduced urban populations, inadvertently creating a surplus of affordable housing in cities.
  • B. Subsidies for affordable housing were increased to support individuals being released from the criminal justice system.
  • C. 'Broken windows' policing criminalized minor infractions, and people funneled through the justice system faced severe housing discrimination upon release.
  • D. The government mandated that private developers allocate a percentage of new buildings specifically to formerly incarcerated individuals.
Question 7 of 7
According to the authors, what is the ultimate goal of the tenant struggle against the financialization of housing?
  • A. To help all current tenants eventually become private property owners.
  • B. To ensure that landlords can only make a modest, government-regulated profit.
  • C. To replace all private housing with large-scale, government-run public housing blocks.
  • D. To dismantle the structures that tie renting to exploitation and redefine housing as a human right.

Abolish Rent — Full Chapter Overview

Abolish Rent Summary & Overview

Abolish Rent (2024) examines the housing crisis from the perspective of those most affected by exploitative rent practices, offering a sharp critique of the current system. It highlights powerful stories of resistance from poor and working-class tenants, showing how collective action can transform both housing and cities and ultimately envisions a revolutionary tenant movement that fights for housing as a fundamental right.

Who Should Listen to Abolish Rent?

  • Tenants who want to organize and fight back against exploitative housing conditions
  • Urban planners and policy makers who want insight into the tenant crisis
  • Anyone who thinks safe, stable housing should be a basic human right

About the Author: Tracy Rosenthal, Leonardo Vilchis

Tracy Rosenthal and Leonardo Vilchis are cofounders of the Los Angeles Tenants Union, the largest tenants' organization in the United States, dedicated to fighting housing injustice and advocating for tenants' rights. Rosenthal is a writer and activist, while Vilchis has been a longtime community organizer, focusing on immigrant and tenant rights in Los Angeles.

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