Ann Arbor renters have the legal right to organize, and landlords who try to stop them face fines starting at $500.

City Council gave final approval Tuesday, Sept. 22, to an ordinance that makes Ann Arbor the first city in Michigan to enshrine tenant organizing protections in local law, WEMU reported. The measure creates a new Tenants Right to Organize chapter under the city code's new Tenants' Bill of Rights title.

The ordinance had passed its first reading 10-0 on Sept. 8, according to MLive.

Under the new law, tenants and organizers can knock on doors to survey neighbors, post flyers in common areas, distribute information and hold meetings on the premises. Outside organizers must be accompanied by a tenant. Landlords are barred from intentionally interfering with any of those activities.

The protections cannot be waived in a lease.

A first violation is a civil infraction carrying a fine of at least $500. Repeat offenses carry fines between $500 and $1,000, plus court costs. Tenants can also file their own civil lawsuits seeking damages or injunctive relief, and a court may award attorney fees. The city administrator's office is responsible for enforcement.

Mayor Pro Tem Travis Radina, the Ward 3 council member who sponsored the ordinance, said the power imbalance tenants face is especially sharp in Ann Arbor's tight housing market. He said limited supply, high costs and "likely price fixing can make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for tenants to simply pack up and move elsewhere."

Radina, who also serves as council liaison to the Ann Arbor Renters Commission, compared the measure to labor organizing rights at the Sept. 8 first reading. He said tenants' ability to organize collectively is "fundamental to ensuring that renters have a meaningful voice in the safety, affordability, quality and condition of their homes throughout our community."

The push for the ordinance drew testimony from renters describing landlord retaliation. At the Sept. 8 hearing, renter Christian Barrett told council his landlord cursed him out and refused to return his security deposit when he declined to move into a unit undergoing active renovations, with broken windows and torn-up walls. He later faced a $1,000 rent increase after requesting routine maintenance.

Another renter, Elliott Phillips, testified that he was too afraid of retaliation from his property management company to put rent in escrow over code violations, even after the city told him he had that right.

Washington, D.C., Seattle, Berkeley, Austin and San Francisco have similar ordinances on the books. Senior Assistant City Attorney Jen Richards wrote in a memo that Minnesota and New York have enacted statewide tenant organizing protections.

The ordinance takes effect 10 days after it is published in the city record.