Hope Davis

When Chicago tenants on rent strike agreed to stop speaking publicly about their landlord as part of settling their eviction cases, they honored the agreement. They never dreamed the landlord’s lawyers would try to charge them with violating the agreement for having talked to us in the past.

Members of the Belden Sawyer Tenant Association were unable to stop their homes from being converted into luxury apartments. But they’ve remained united, opening membership to the whole city and fighting to give tenants the right to purchase their homes.

Each MINT sets its rental mix and target populations locally, but what they have in common is a focus on preventing displacement and capturing the benefits of rising property values for neighborhood residents.

In Springfield, Missouri, organized tenants have filed a lawsuit against the past and present owners of their tax credit–financed properties, claiming that in exercising an opt-out provision they violated both state and federal requirements.

In Springfield, Missouri, senior and disabled tenants at one Millennia affordable housing building say they’ve gone about a year without a working elevator, but their organizing has gotten the city to threaten receivership if it’s not fixed soon.