How to Start and Sustain a Tenant Association: 

Learn how to start and sustain a tenant group, including how to hold effective meetings, increase and maintain tenant participation, delegate responsibilities, adopt bylaws, and more. Also find materials to support organizing efforts using digital tools.

Enforcing the Right to Organize in HUD Multifamily Housing:

Won by tenants in 2000 in part through MAHT's advocacy, HUD's Right to Organize Regulations (24 CFR Part 245) allows tenants in privately owned, HUD subsidized multifamily housing to establish and operate a tenant organization for the purpose of addressing issues related to their living environment, the terms and conditions of their tenancy, and activities related to housing and community development. Learn about tenant organizing rights in federally subsidized buildings, and how to deal with owners who undermine tenants' Right to Organize!

Intro to Federally Assisted Multifamily Housing:

More than 1.3 million families live in housing where Project Based Section 8 contracts are expiring. Learn about expiring Section 8 contracts and mortgages; basics of “Mark Up to Market”; Enhanced vs. Project Based Vouchers; Low Income Housing Tax Credits; risks and opportunities for tenants.

Low Income Housing Tax Credits: Challenges to Tenants:

Since the 1990’s, the principal housing production program for lower income families, has been the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC). Administered by the Internal Revenue Service (not HUD), LIHTC today serves more than 2.3 million families, mostly people below 60% of the Area Median Income. About 400,000 LIHTC apartments also receive Section 8 for low income families. LIHTC presents unique challenges for tenants and organizers. There is no federally-recognized Right to Organize in LIHTC buildings (unless they have Section 8). Most LIHTC buildings do not receive REAC inspections, making it harder for tenants who need repairs.

HUD's Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) 101: 

HUD's Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) was created by Congress in 2011 as a response to the deterioration, demolition, and conversion to market rate or luxury developments of public housing caused by chronic government underinvestment. RAD allows HUD to convert public housing to private ownership under use regulations that secure long-term affordability. Learn here about how tenants can save and improve their homes and organize a tenant association in properties converting under RAD.

Strategies to Preserve At-risk Federally Assisted Housing:

Tenants in subsidized housing are challenged as long term contracts in federal and state subsidized housing expire and rent controls and subsidies end. More than 460,000 low rent HUD apartments have been lost since 1996 due to owner decisions to prepay or opt-out of HUD programs, or through HUD foreclosure and resale. Organizers across the country have organized tenants to save our homes in response. Learn how tenants have used HUD programs such as Mark Up to Market, Enhanced or Project-Based Vouchers, and Tax Credits to save and improve our homes from market rate conversions.

How to Use HUD REAC Inspections to Save and Improve Your Homes:

HUD’s aging housing stock presents many challenges to tenants’ health and safety. Life-threatening gas and water leaks, toxic mold, drafty windows, poor ventilation, and lead paint are widespread. HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) inspection system has failed to address these threats. Learn more about the HUD REAC Inspection Process here!

How to Remove an Abusive Site Manager:

Across the country, tenant groups have struggled with how to get rid of incompetent, corrupt and/or downright nasty on-site managers. Some groups have succeeded in changing on-site management or even removing management companies, in buildings that are not owned by tenants. Find out how they did it!

How Tenants Can Combat Discrimination and Harassment in HUD Housing:

Discrimination against people of color, women, the disabled and other groups protected under the Fair Housing Act is widespread in HUD assisted housing. Learn how tenants can use new federal protections to fight for their rights and combat discrimination, harassment and segregation in HUD housing.

How HUD Tenants Can Fight Urban Displacement, Racism, and Gentrification:

Reflecting worldwide trends, US cities are undergoing profound changes as global investors reconstruct central cities for the 1% and displace and isolate lower income groups, particularly people of color. HUD tenants are fighting back!

Changes to Recertification and HUD's Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) Program:

In recent years, HUD tenants have been subjected to new, often intrusive “recertification” and cross checking of government databases by the EIV system mandated by HUD. Under COVID, HUD has streamlined and relaxed rules on Interim and Annual Recertifications to make it easier for Section 8 and Public Housing tenants who have lost their jobs to get a reduced rent. Learn about why Congress and HUD have instituted the EIV, how it is supposed to work, what tenants’ rights are to access their files and appeal and correct the record, and how you can get a rent reduction if you’ve lost your job.