rent strike

American  

noun

1. a temporary, organized refusal by tenants, as of an apartment building, to pay their rent, as in protest over inadequate services.

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Etymology

Origin of rent strike

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

For years, a major portion of the building’s tenants have participated in a rent strike, withholding payments in an effort to counter steep rent increases.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 20, 2024

Tenants in 65 San Francisco households have been on a rent strike, some for nearly eight months, withholding their monthly payments over a host of issues they say have made their living conditions difficult .

From New York Times • Jan. 15, 2024

Fife, a rent strike activist and organizer of Moms for Housing before she was elected, said she was "disgusted."

From Salon • Mar. 8, 2023

At the news conference announcing the rent strike, Felix said Schweb is charging “millionaire prices” for a building that’s falling apart, a tactic she said the company is using to push out current residents.

From Washington Post • Dec. 11, 2022

Yet all who have followed the recent rent strike on the East Side, know that the tenement houses there are in large part owned by men as poor as those who live in them.

From Twentieth Century Socialism What It Is Not; What It Is: How It May Come by Kelly, Edmond