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Organizing
Community development relies on policies, resources, and recognition that were won by decades of organizing—and organizing remains essential to face new threats, preserve existing wins, and continue to fight back against the big lie that the way things are is inevitable.
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How ‘Tenant Stewards’ Are Using TOPA to Form a Co-op
Organized by a pandemic-era mutual aid group, this housing cooperative is taking advantage of D.C.’s pioneering Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. But the pressure of paying back a loan with mounting interest could stymie the group's plans to provide affordable housing.
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A Fifth of This Town’s Homes Were Saved from Demolition—And Kept Affordable
The decision to demolish Wellston’s public housing had already been made when residents and the mayor decided to fight for it, but persistence, luck, and a financing structure with some unusual twists brought them back from the brink.
The Unfulfilled Potential of D.C.’s TOPA Law
Tenant Opportunity to Purchase laws empower renters to get control when their buildings go up for sale. But in D.C., the hurdles to becoming owners are many, and often insurmountable.
Even When Rent Control Is in Effect, Tenants Need to Stay Vigilant, Jersey City Fight Shows
Facing 25 to 50 percent rent increases, tenants at two apartment towers fought to get the city to enforce its longstanding rent control ordinance. A year later, they earned a win that could result in millions being paid back to them in rent overpayments.
How to Reform the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program
Housing and policy experts agree that LIHTC has successfully increased the supply of affordable housing. But they also believe there’s room for improvement.
Can Residents Get More Out of Tax Credit Housing?
Arrangements in which LIHTC tenants share in the development’s financial benefits, or become partial or full owners, are rare—but some properties have pulled them off. This scan of several examples shows the possibilities—and the conditions needed for them to succeed.
How Organizers in Rio’s Favelas Are Harnessing Solar Energy
Neighborhoods on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro face a multitude of challenges, including social and racial inequity, and a lack of public services. This organization is hoping to prove that solar energy can benefit neighborhoods, lower electric bills, and provide jobs.
Tenant Protections Undone: How Florida Organizers Are Moving Forward
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill in June that overrode dozens of local tenant protection laws won there in recent years. How are housing organizers in Florida fighting back? And what can other organizers do if they live in a state that is hostile to tenant protections?
Squatters Ask Chicago: Why So Many Vacancies?
Officials in Chicago are struggling to address the city’s homelessness and housing crises. So why does the Chicago Public Housing Authority have one of the highest rates of vacancy in the country?
Tenants Unions Are How We Win in the South
Tenant organizing has the power to transcend culture wars and break down the artificial barriers that have been placed between us.
Holding Redlining’s Perpetrators Accountable
Richard and Leah Rothstein talk about their new book, Just Action, inspired by readers of The Color of Law who asked what could be done about the enduring effects of a century of unconstitutional housing discrimination.
‘Renters Are Struggling’: Economists Back Tenant-Led Push for Federal Rent Control
“We have seen corporate landlords—who own a larger share of the rental market than ever before—use inflation as an excuse to hike rents and reap excess profits beyond what should be considered fair and reasonable.”
Tenant Organizing in Unexpected Places, a Webinar
Tenants aren’t just organizing in places like California and New York—hear about tenant organizing in small and mid-sized cities from Maine, Maryland, Texas and Kentucky.