Video to assist Hispanic renters Tenants' rights focus of creation on YouTube
Originally published in: The Herald-Sun
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Edition: Final
Page: B1
BY BRIANNE DOPART bdopart@heraldsun.com; 419-6684
YouTube may not be the place many turn for educational videos, but for Spanish-speaking renters and their English speaking landlords, some say a four-minute video could be the key to better tenant-landlord relations.
The video, which began as the brainchild of neighborhood activists, was created to inform Spanish-speaking renters of their rights as tenants and is now available on the site YouTube.com as well as on DVD.
Flashing images of how-to and how-not-to live, such as the word "No!" emblazoned on a picture of a car with no license plate, are narrated in Spanish. The goal, said co-creator Ken Gasch, is to empower the non-English speaking population with its rights as American renters.
Gasch, president-elect of Durham's Inter Neighborhood Council (INC), said his motivation to create the video came from a friendship he and his wife shared with a Honduran couple who dealt with a massive mold problem in their rental property.
The problem began when the couple didn't understand the necessity of airing out a steamy bathroom after a shower, Gasch said. When the mold became apparent and, apparently, very stinky, the Gasches' friends were hesitant to call their landlord. The hesitation went on for weeks and the mold spread. Soon, Gasch recalled, the couple's two closets and entire restroom were infested with the moisture-gobbling spores.
"It came to my understanding that tenants in Mexico and Central America do a lot of maintenance on their own properties, which is completely different than in the U.S. The buildings there are different. The plumbing and the ventilation systems too," Gasch said.
A thought immediately occurred to the activist-minded Colonial Park resident: Wouldn't it be nice to have something that could communicate to tenants the things they need to know when renting?
Gasch and friends from INC began asking around and found a like-minded individual in Leah Bergman of Bergman Lee Ray Real Estate Rentals, a leasing company that works mostly with Hispanic tenants.
Bergman's tenants in the past had been afraid of contacting the management company with repair requests and had been hesitant to report things such as damage or leaks, she said. While the company makes sure to have Spanish copies of all of its English-only documents, Bergman said she wasn't confident future tenants were grasping everything they needed to while signing on the dotted line.
Gasch heard the same thing from folks in the community as well as those who work in the same field as Bergman.
INC members drew up an initial list of items they thought tenants should know and be cautioned against, Gasch recalled. The list, including warnings about reporting pest infestations and changing air filters, was strikingly similar to the things important to property managers such as Rick Soles. He got to give his two cents when Gasch and company presented their idea to a local committee of property managers.
Eager to help Gasch and company with their video, Bergman contacted her alma mater Durham Academy and was put in touch with senior Ana Maria Diaz, a native of Columbia who needed a topic for her senior project.
The end result, Gasch said, is the product of several heads put together to take a stab at one common goal -- better living conditions for all.
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