Organizing

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.

Housing and policy experts agree that LIHTC has successfully increased the supply of affordable housing. But they also believe there’s room for improvement.

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.

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.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill 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?

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?

Tenant organizing has the power to transcend culture wars and break down the artificial barriers that have been placed between us.

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.

“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.”

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.

Welcome to Shelterforce’s newest Under the Lens series, Not Just Ramps—Disability and Housing Justice. This introductory article lays out why the connection between disability and affordable housing is so strong, and why it’s so important for housers to understand.

It’s time to forge a new coalition of labor unions and housing justice activists at the national, state, and local levels.