Tenant Organizing

Are policy changes enough to address the housing problems we face?

Tenant activists discuss how the housing movement can do better at aligning itself with the tenants’ rights movement.

Housing tools in New York City demystify building ownership information and help renters, policymakers, and housing advocates spot and address problematic landlord behavior. Could tech-savvy groups outside The Big Apple replicate these tools in their communities?

The story of East Palo Alto’s incorporation is one marked by great contention among local stakeholders, but also provides valuable lessons for organizers in forging and mobilizing local coalitions.

As rent control reemerges as a strategy to address an intense housing crisis, we go back 50 years to examine the lessons learned from past struggles in Philadelphia.

When the pandemic hit, real estate firms gladly took government assistance to keep their businesses afloat as they faced financial hardships. Then they turned around and evicted scores of tenants enduring the same COVID-induced difficulties.

After learning it was one of the city’s most prolific evictors, a for-profit affordable housing provider created a tenant retention program that’s being touted as a model for other developers.

Some elements of affordable housing—from the development process to the way buildings are managed—are rooted in racist assumptions that dehumanize residents. Here are some simple ways you can be a better housing provider.

Tech-based property management companies promise convenience and customer service, but these Kansas City renters’ experience has been, and continues to be, anything but.

The UK saw a dramatic change in landlord behavior once security deposits were put into the hands of a third party.

Beyond the immediate need to stop mass evictions, there is much more that state and local officials can do to facilitate housing stability in a longer-term transition out of the pandemic emergency. The time for those critical measures is now.

Minneapolis tenants won the right to buy their neglected buildings from a slumlord. They now have about two years to transition to owners.