Baltimore Renters United was developed as a coalition of independent non-profit groups, legal services organizations, tenants’ associations, and community-based organizations who convene around a common purpose: working towards a Baltimore in which all renters live in safe and affordable housing with tenure security. In Baltimore City, 53% of homes are rentals, but many renters live in substandard conditions, paying more than they can afford for rent and cycling through debt collection and eviction.

In 2015, the Public Justice Center and Right to Housing Alliance published the report, Justice Diverted: How Renters are Processed in the Baltimore City Rent Court. The report shared that nearly 60% of renters surveyed at the time of eviction cases reported threats to health or safety in the home to their landlords. Only 8% of them could address housing defects effectively in defense of their cases. In April 2017, the Baltimore Sun’s year-long investigation revealed that the Rent Court “routinely works against tenants, while in many cases failing to
hold landlords accountable when they don’t ensure minimum standards of habitability.”

Too many city renters are paying too much for housing, which makes them sick and causes them to miss work and school. All the while, they are hounded by negligent property managers and slumlords and are often unable to make their case in court. In 2023, BRU became a fully staffed tenant base-building organization.