Amalgamated Housing Co-op members petition to ease financial strain from 45 percent charge increase

According to a survey, 68 percent of Amalgamated households — most having consistently met their carrying charges in full on time — have declared their inability to afford this sudden, steep carrying charge increase of 45 percent”

Amalgamated Co-operators Union

Cooperators at the Amalgamated Housing Co-operative are trying to have their voices heard. 

A petition has been drafted by members of the Amalgamated Co-operators Union and is in the process of circulating, gaining the necessary 25 percent of co-operator signatures it needs before being presented to the Amalgamated board.  

The petition calls for the board president or secretary to conduct a meeting before the end of the August to discuss the union’s requests. 

Union members said they wish to call a shareholder special meeting to discuss suspending the $35 penalty for late carrying charge payments, suspending the ‘co-operators in good standing’ definition for those who are already in good standing, and suspending legal action on evictions or defaults for stockholders who have a history of paying maintenance fees on time. 

The Amalgamated Co-operators Union was founded in 2023 after residents united to respond to the gas potentially being cut off for 800 families. This petition is another installment in their fight residents of the Amalgamated. 

The changes the union is looking to make, as stated in the petition, would ease the burden on co-operators financially. Getting rid of late fees and suspending legal action for residents who have previously made all payments on time alleviates the stress on co-operators who are either unable to pay the increase or have found it to be a heavy burden. 

“According to a survey, 68 percent of AHC households — most having consistently met their carrying charges in full on time — have declared their inability to afford this sudden, steep carrying charge increase of 45%, threatening the stability of the community and the welfare of our families,” the petition reads.

According to co-op bylaws, stockholders in good standing are defined as those who pay their carrying charges on time, do not illegally sublet their apartments, do not house exceed occupancy, do not alter their units without approval, hand in annual inspections and income affidavits on deadline, provide proof of homeowners insurance, and submit mandated forms for window guards and lead-paint on time. 

Co-operators who are deemed not in good standing are stripped of the ability to rent community spaces, rent a parking spot, and more. 

In response to the survey data, Jack Spiegel, board president, said he spoke with the finance chair recently and learned that more than 75 percent of the co-operators paid their maintenance costs in full by July 15. 

“Sixty-eight percent can’t be saying they can’t afford it and yet 75 percent paid it,” Spiegel said. 

According to the union, the petition was drafted in order to provide shareholders options that support them, providing some relief. 

“The problem is, many of our families simply cannot pay the increase or can only do so with unbelievable sacrifices that are not sustainable,” a spokesperson from the ACU said. 

As of July 1, a 45 percent carrying charge increase was established after the board appealed to the state’s homes and community renewal department for the increase to compensate for funds it said were needed. 

Jason Dent has been living at the Amalgamated since age 6 and, although he now lives in his own apartment with his children with his mother in her apartment a floor below, he says the co-op has always felt like home. 

Dent has been living in a one-bedroom with his two children on the wait list for a larger unit for nearly 10 years and, while he was recently granted his upgrade to a three-bedroom he thinks the pricing is unaffordable regardless of his unit. In his one-bedroom he was paid $1,580 in monthly maintenance fees, which jumped up to about $2,100 with the recent increase.

Now, in his three-bedroom, Dent is paying $3,000 in monthly maintenance fees. 

“To have this be the new normal is kind of shocking,” he said. 

Dent, who works as a nurse, said he feels the 45 percent increase is not only unaffordable but unreasonable. Upon moving into his own apartment, he paid $30,000 to move in. With his unit upgrade, he paid another $30,000. So, for Dent, paying an extra 3,000 every month is enough to start looking elsewhere for someplace to live. 

But it isn’t just the prices,

Dent said the management of the buildings has gone downhill. In his old one-bedroom, there was a leak in his bathroom ceiling he had to have repaired five times because, each time someone came in to fix it, he said they put a “band-aid” over the problem, leaving room for it to happen again.

Each time repairs were needed, Dent had to take time off of work, leaving him further frustrated every time the problem arose again. 

He said a number of the people he knows in the Amalgamated are whispering about needing to move out because they can’t afford the prices anymore. As for Dent’s mother, he said she’s retired, on a fixed income and unsure of what she’s going to do. He thinks she may have to end up moving in with him, or she might move to Puerto Rico.

If she goes, he’s going with her, however begrudgingly. 

“I don’t want to leave the community,” Dent said. “I’d have to uproot so much of what I’ve known since I was six years old.” 

Dent said he will sign the Amalgamated Co-operators Union’s petition. 

Spiegel said he knows about the petition, and has an unsigned copy. He said he couldn’t speak on behalf of the board or its decision, as they had not been presented with the signed petition as of July 26.