HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-22-25 Public Comment - M. Wimsatt - Bozeman Right to CounselFrom:Mike Wimsatt
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Bozeman Right to Counsel
Date:Monday, April 21, 2025 2:58:10 PM
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Dear City Commission,
I’ve lived in Bozeman for 13 years. I was a military brat, and I came here for school. I
got a degree in microbiology, and served two years in the air force out of college. I
was getting my master’s degree in virology when COVID hit, my program was
defunded and I was cut. When I started renting here as a student, I could rent a
house with 2 others for 450$ each, and it would include utilities.
I’ve been unhoused for about a year now. I was renting a two bedroom
apartment close to campus for about two and a half years, for 1800$ without utilities. I
started seeing black mold in my bathroom. One ceiling tile was looser than the others,
so you could see the black mold in the structure of the building. I submitted a
maintenance request about the ceiling tile. I submitted a maintenance request for the
black mold. When my fridge broke, I saw the black mold move to the kitchen and saw
it in my fridge. While I was living there, I submitted seven different maintenance
requests over the course of several months that they ignored. I saw my landlord
maybe four times when living there. They saw me as nothing more than their
paycheck.
Finally, after my last maintenance request mentioned the illegalities of my
landlord’s behavior, the next month I got a rent hike in the middle of my lease. They
tripled my rent to a little less than 6,000$, without utilities. I felt angry, confused, and
sad. I did all the right things, and I had been a good tenant. I never had any negative
interactions with cops or management. I was working in the service industry, and I
couldn’t pay up. After how they treated me, I didn’t really want to. Two months after I
hadn’t paid the 6,000$ of rent, my landlord and two cops came to my door and told
me to get out. For a long time, I thought I had an eviction on my record, but there
were no court proceedings.
Knowing that I am not even counted in the eviction statistics, I know there must
be many more people who have been forced out of their homes. If tenants know there
are any other options except “pay or get out” more will stay in their homes and have
better relationships with their landlords.
If I had legal representation, someone to turn to when I got my rent tripled, I
don’t think I would have lost my housing and found myself on the streets. Fund Right
to Counsel and keep people in their homes and workers in your city.
Mike Wimsatt
Unhoused in Bozeman