You're My Landlord, Not My Lobbyist

December 10, 2021 12:45 PM

So my new apartment is managed by a corporate management office, overseeing several buildings. They use email to communicate with tenants, which is mostly useful - but a couple times they've used it to send out messages urging us to vote a certain way on housing bills. Is this...bad? How should we react?

So far this has just happened twice; once it was a mass email urging tenants to vote a certain way on a housing-related resolution, and today it was a mass email which urged us to sign a housing-related petition. There's no kind of tracking of this mailing that I can ascertain, and it's BCC'd to the whole tenant list - I just think it's tacky is all, and was inclined to just delete it. My roommate, however, is a little more pissed off at what feels to him like an overstepping of boundaries. He's grumbling that he wants to write back and tell them to please not send us this kind of stuff going forward.

So: is this in fact "just tacky" or something we should say or do something about?

posted by EmpressCallipygos to Home & Garden (28 answers total)

I would consider voting suggestions from a landlord as moderately helpful in that they would alert me to the positions landlords favor on housing-related resolutions/petitions. These would be positions which I would almost certainly want to vote the opposite of at every opportunity.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:53 PM on December 10, 2021 [91 favorites]

That's tacky as hell and an abuse of power. I'd raise a ruckus and tell the landlord that they may only contact you for matters that directly relate to your lease or building updates. It's completely unprofessional that they've brought politics into what should solely be a business relationship.
posted by mezzanayne at 12:56 PM on December 10, 2021 [7 favorites]

He's grumbling that he wants to write back and tell them to please not send us this kind of stuff going forward.

I disagree (and agree with DirtyOldTown); you should take it as very helpful advice of how not to vote.
posted by supercres at 12:57 PM on December 10, 2021 [12 favorites]

I'd be pissed off too. I am reminded of some bosses telling employees to vote a certain way, or to contribute money to a candidate or cause, with the threat (implicit or explicit) of "or else." The relationship between landlord and tenant is more hands-off, so even if a threat is implied, I don't see how they'd make good on it. But it would still get my hackles up.
posted by adamrice at 12:58 PM on December 10, 2021 [4 favorites]

If your roommate doesn't like getting these emails and wants to ask the landlord to stop sending them to him, he is free to ask them to stop, he doesn't really need any big reason. Whether or not it's just tacky or a more serious violation seems beside the point. Asking the landlord to only send emails that pertain to your lease/your apartment/the building is very reasonable.
posted by cakelite at 12:58 PM on December 10, 2021 [2 favorites]

IIRC you haven't lived in the new place too long. I'd say that more than 1 or 2 of these a year is venturing into spam territory and should be addressed as such. (though yes, they do give you a better perspective of how not to vote - and maybe if you or your roommate do push back, you might mention that tactic.)
posted by hydra77 at 1:00 PM on December 10, 2021

Response by poster: If I can add a quick follow-up question - my concern about saying something is, wouldn't this put a target on our backs about them not wanting to renew the lease when its up because we're "problematic tenants" or whatever?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:02 PM on December 10, 2021 [4 favorites]

It's overstepping and wrong, but IMO the best thing you can do is what others have suggested - take these as voting suggestions in the other direction and vote accordingly.

Unless your housing / rental market is vastly different than my area, the market very much favors landlords over tenants.

The direction to send these things is almost certainly coming from someone well-insulated from any real feedback or repercussions. Any feedback is going to be absorbed by front-line folks who probably are rolling their eyes at these communications as much as they're proving annoying to you and your roommate.

At best, feedback would be ignored and at worst it may wind up being a headache for you as other folks have suggested.

Seems like something that maybe would get a little coverage in an alt weekly if one exists in your area. Maybe an anonymous tip would get a little traction.
posted by jzb at 1:13 PM on December 10, 2021 [6 favorites]

I get that you never want to invite a bad relationship with a landlord, but worrying that they will somehow try to screw you out of your lease because you asked to be taken off that email list seems really excessive to me. A corporate management office like you describe isn't the same thing as dealing with an independent landlord who might develop a weird grudge over something so insignificant.
posted by cakelite at 1:27 PM on December 10, 2021 [2 favorites]

I think this is highly problematic because it tends to discourage public participation in the political process, without which democracy quickly becomes a hollow shell.

What would happen if a tenant led or participated in a demonstration in favor of rent controls or addressed the city council in an open meeting?

I think it would be appropriate to demand a public written statement from the management company to the effect that advocating for the opposition to their position will not adversely effect the status of a tenant in any way.

And I would notify the group pushing the positions the company doesn’t like that this is going on, as well as any politicians who are on that side.
posted by jamjam at 1:28 PM on December 10, 2021 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Do you have a representative like a Councilmember or County supervisor who has a constituent services operation that would be on your side? They could address the problem without you needing to be identified, potentially. They work for you, etc. etc .
posted by kensington314 at 1:31 PM on December 10, 2021 [14 favorites]

The question you have to ask yourself is whether you feel like the mechanisms to protect you from retribution for complaining are as strong as the societal apparatus that gives private landlords wide latitude to do what they wish.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:39 PM on December 10, 2021

Inasmuch as a corporate entity is likely to either be offended by your friend's request or to heed it (pretty unlikely in both cases, I'd think), it's really reasonable to expect to only be emailed about things related to why you gave them your email in the first place, just as you would not expect OldNavy to send you chain letters or your doctor to email you their grocery list. They don't need to know you think they're being heinously unethical (which they totally are) if you don't want them to. For all they know, you're just trying to keep your inbox tidy.
posted by lampoil at 1:39 PM on December 10, 2021 [2 favorites]

Doesnt the USA have GDPR? Over in Europe, you are only allowed to contact people who have opted into specific comms. Your landlord cannot be sending you emails about which way to vote, particularly if it favours them as the landlord as opposed to bills protecting tenants. I would think you would be within your rights to at least tell them to stop sending you these types of emails. If you feel they are a vindictive bunch that would threaten to throw you out then just delete the emails.
posted by MissMissy at 1:41 PM on December 10, 2021

OP lives in NYC and I am really struggling to imagine a situation where requesting to be removed from an email list would provide this corporate management company any legal grounds to "throw them out." Tenants have a lot of protections here. I suppose they could raise your rent on you when it's time to renew, but if that happened I truly believe it would be because they've decided they can get more money for the unit and not out of any desire to inflict revenge on your roommate because they asked to be removed from an email list.
posted by cakelite at 1:45 PM on December 10, 2021

If your roommate is incredibly annoyed to the point of being very motivated, he could work with local solidarity and tenant movement groups to organize the building. Any effort to organize regular folks is the Lord's work in a dying democracy like ours.
posted by kensington314 at 1:55 PM on December 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: OP lives in NYC and I am really struggling to imagine a situation where requesting to be removed from an email list would provide this corporate management company any legal grounds to "throw them out."

OP here to provide you with that exact situation:

It's a market-value apartment, and that means that the only right I have is a tenant is that if the landlord decides not to renew my lease, he has to give me 90 days notice. And he can decide not to renew my lease for any reason.

And I know that to be the case because the LAST apartment I was in got sold to a GIANT ASS-MONKEY and "deciding not to renew our leases" is exactly what he did to get rid of us all so he could flip the building, and that is the whole reason I even moved to this new apartment in the first place....
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:58 PM on December 10, 2021 [3 favorites]

If you want to be paranoid about never pissing off your landlord and jeopardizing your lease, that's your right, but I don't advise it. A landlord not renewing your lease because he just bought the building and wants to majorly jack up all the rents is a very common occurrence here. The scenario you are worrying about with this particular situation is...less so. Your roommate has every right to request to be taken off the email list if he wants to do that, and policing his interactions with the landlord out of a fear that they will decide to take revenge on you come lease renewal time is not a dynamic I recommend.
posted by cakelite at 2:04 PM on December 10, 2021

Best answer: I don't know what the public disclosure and campaign financing laws are in NYC, but this could be a violation.

In my state sending grassroots emails about specific laws and engaging in politicking needs to be conducted through a 501c4.

You might want to send these emails to any oversight body and see what they say.
posted by brookeb at 2:05 PM on December 10, 2021 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: Your roommate has every right to request to be taken off the email list if he wants to do that, and policing his interactions with the landlord out of a fear that they will decide to take revenge on you come lease renewal time is not a dynamic I recommend.

Heh; I texted my roommate that we got another email and said I would be writing our council person - he texted back that he's already been emailing our building manager a couple times about a dude smoking in the hallway and they haven't done jack, "so I'm not even paying attention to political emails anyway until they answer me".

I really like the idea of alerting someone on the city council, though - particularly since the company manages multiple buildings spread throughout several different city districts.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:13 PM on December 10, 2021

Best answer: A request to be taken off an email list is totally reasonable. You can't be a renter without having to ask landlords for stuff more annoying than this.

Just keep it neutral and polite. "Could I be taken off your list for advocacy emails? Thanks!"

Also: stopped clocks are right twice a day, housing policy is complicated, landlords come in lots of different flavors, tenant and landlord interests can align on certain questions, etc.--so, do your homework and check with local housing/tenant advocates before voting.
posted by bfields at 2:32 PM on December 10, 2021 [5 favorites]

Also: stopped clocks are right twice a day, housing policy is complicated, landlords come in lots of different flavors, tenant and landlord interests can align on certain questions, etc.--so, do your homework and check with local housing/tenant advocates before voting.

Good point. If they are sufficiently clever, they’ll send out mail suggesting you vote the opposite way from their interest. Probably better to just use the email as a prompt to investigate that particular issue so you can vote the right way.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 2:47 PM on December 10, 2021

MissMissy: "Doesnt the USA have GDPR? "

Hahahah. No.
posted by adamrice at 2:55 PM on December 10, 2021 [13 favorites]

Why not set up a new email account just for your landlord to send emails to, and then you can ignore or delete without having to read them?
posted by Ideefixe at 5:40 PM on December 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I don't know why, but bfields, you phrased things in EXACTLY the right way to cut through what was some paranoia on my end. You're right - and that's also exactly the script I feel okay using.

Right, I'mma just ask to be taken off that stuff and move on. Thanks.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:24 AM on December 11, 2021

Yeah, I wouldn't try to make a legal case out of it. Just ask politely to be taken off the politics list or ask that they send the political emails from a different address so you can filter it/unsubscribe/block it. I feel pretty comfortable that the admin-types at a corporate office who are running the email system don't care what your politics are.
posted by Mid at 1:05 PM on December 11, 2021

If there is something unique in the sending email address or the subject line, you can probably write a rule in your email client to send them straight to trash.

We also have folders in which we collect email from various senders that we never read but might want for reference sometime.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:41 PM on December 11, 2021

You can not be taken off the email list. They add tenants to a mail merge program like a spreadsheet that keeps track of the rent and maintenance requests so when they feel they want to mass mail you on some b.s. political mumbo jumbo they do. The problem is most of the housing legislation is put to bills by greedy, over profit margin making out of state realty moguls who have no dog in the fight but want things to be easier for them in court rooms and in general landlord tenant relations. Do not ever let them persuade your vote (they wouldn't know one way or the other how you voted anyway) but it is absolutely Hatch act territory to try and use rental authority to persuade a vote of a lessee. You could copy and paste them all to a complaint to the better business bureau and lower their rating by informing potential tenants this is what they will deal with and then you could inform the state attorney they are spamming their tenants with messy political hogwash. There has to be a fine in that somewhere maybe even compensation.
posted by The_imp_inimpossible at 8:22 AM on December 13, 2021