This Saturday at 10 a.m., the City of San Antonio and Fair Housing Council of South Texas will host the last renters’ rights information session of the summer.
The free event stems from the city’s housing plan and the renters’ “bill of rights” resolution that City Council approved in May 2023.
It outlines local laws, as well as those in the state constitution and federal laws that aim to protect tenants. To promote awareness of these rights, the city launched the RentWise SA event and video series and a how-to guide for renters.
About 607,500 renters live in San Antonio, according to a 2022 Texas Housers report.
Almost half of local renters are cost-burdened, meaning they pay more than 30% of their income toward housing.
The information session on Saturday at Forest Hills Library, 5245 Ingram Rd., will include a presentation on renter rights regarding evictions, repairs, discrimination, retaliation and other issues and responsibilities, according to the city’s Neighborhood and Housing Services Department.
Fair housing counselors, code enforcement officials, and staff with the Fair Housing Council of South Texas will be on-site to answer questions and schedule follow-up appointments. Spanish and American Sign Language interpreters will be available to provide interpretation services as needed.
Registration is not required.
For now, one more renters’ resources event is slated for September and the city has released three of seven informational videos about eviction prevention/rental assistance, repair requests/healthy living conditions and an introduction to leases.
The city’s 10-year affordable housing plan, approved in 2021, calls for a public awareness campaign on fair housing laws and eviction prevention.
Landlords are not required to share the bill of rights with tenants, but they are required to provide a Notice of Tenants’ Rights document when a notice to vacate is issued to a tenant for non-payment of rent.
A notice to vacate does not mean a tenant must move out, but they may interpret it that way. The Notice of Tenants’ Rights tells residents about assistance programs and provides an overview of the legal process.
