Provenza launches statewide tenant survey
The Laramie representative aims to collect stories about living conditions, landlord behavior, and other tenant struggles. Provenza said the data will inform both local and state policy discussions.
Rep. Karlee Provenza (HD-45) launched a survey this week aimed at collecting and cataloging the experiences of rental tenants across the state.
She said the goal is to identify common problems and to inform discussions about tenant protections both locally and at the state level.
“The reality is that we've got a lot of hard-working people in our community that either can't afford to keep a roof over their head or they're paying good money and they're not getting, in return, the sort of dignity they deserve from their landlords,” Provenza said.
Wyoming has some protections for tenants on the books, but they are broad and difficult for tenants to access. Landlords and their allies frequently chafe at the idea of enacting further restrictions on their industry, but tenants, community organizers, and nonprofits have argued the current protections do little to shield poor or otherwise disadvantaged renters from abuse and mistreatment.
“The state of Wyoming has failed to protect tenants in a meaningful way,” Provenza said. “Otherwise, this wouldn't continue to happen.”
The Community Tenant Survey asks respondents to rate the safety of their rental and their relationship to their landlord, while providing opportunities to share experiences or other input.
Provenza said identifying information will stay with her and her alone, but aggregated data will be shared with both local government officials and Provenza’s fellow lawmakers in Cheyenne.
“We know this isn't an isolated issue,” she said. “So part of what I'm hoping to get out of this is an educated discussion with my colleagues about how to protect our constituents, regardless of political background, or who they are, or where they're located geographically.”
But any statewide discussion about renter protections will have particular relevance for Laramie, where more than half the population rents the home they live in. The presence of young college students renting for the first time in their lives, an abundance of poor people with nowhere else to move, and a severe housing shortage make the town an attractive investment opportunity for both homegrown and out-of-state landlords.
In that environment, horror stories — about unsanitary living conditions, unaccountable landlords, or arbitrary rent hikes — are common.
Provenza’s survey will collect those stories and put numbers to the anecdotes. But she said her survey is not just looking for negative experiences.
“It's also trying to collect positive ones because I think that there are solutions embedded in them,” she said.
In early 2022, Laramie adopted the City Rental Housing Code. In early 2023, it went into effect. The code includes a basic set of health and safety standards, a tenant complaint system, and a requirement that landlords register each unit they rent. As of July, less than half of the city’s estimated 8,000-9,000 rentals had been registered.
The Community Tenant Survey will remain open until January 15.