Tenant Organizing

In Massachusetts, the collection of more than 124,000 signatures makes it likely that a statewide rent control measure will be on the ballot in November.

In states across the South, coalitions that include housing justice advocates, tenant leaders, and legal service providers are coming together to oppose anti-tenant policies and advance tenant rights.

Housing advocates in Eugene, Oregon, are seeking to create a legislative framework that would allow tenants to collectively acquire multifamily buildings when a building comes up for sale.

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.

In a time of both federal and state legislature intransigence, tenant organizing strategies that emphasize building-level organizing and other creative approaches are gaining ground.

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.

To protect themselves from ICE, many families are staying home from work; tenant organizers in Minneapolis, Chicago, and Los Angeles are pushing for eviction moratoriums to keep them safe.

By adjusting rent thresholds and shrinking landlord exemptions, more than a dozen municipalities have adopted stronger versions of a state law that protects tenants from high rent increases and unreasonable evictions.

As the single-family rental market grows, tenant organizers are adapting their tactics to a housing landscape that stretches across neighborhoods—with no shared spaces, and often, no clear landlord.

In the memoir Staking Our Claim, Pat Morrissy talks about the early days of Shelterforce, organizing for rent control laws in NJ towns, and supporting tenant leaders in their fights for better homes.

Pransky was an activist lawyer who fought for and defended both tenants and rent control policies in New Jersey. McKee organized in New York City, founding multiple organizations and helping to defend and strengthen rent regulations at the state level.

As more than 5,000 rent-stabilized units connected to the Pinnacle Group prepare to go up for auction in 2026, residents warn would-be buyers not to overlook the years of disrepair that made those units unlivable.