WMass housing advocates collecting signatures for rent control ballot item

SPRINGFIELD — Tyler Jones organized the 18 families living in his apartment complex to create a tenant association. Now, the 20-year-old is hoping to organize 110,000 people to improve renters' rights statewide.

Jones is planning to spend the next six weeks canvassing Springfield, manning tables at the Holyoke Mall and traveling through the suburbs to collect signatures to get a question on the November 2026 ballot, asking voters if they want to institute rent control.

"It is building the tenants' rights movement, and it is housing justice," Jones said.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell earlier this month cleared the constitutionality of returning rent control to the state, which was eliminated in 1994. Proponents must submit a minimum of 75,574 signatures from registered voters by Dec. 3 to move the initiative forward.

If they complete the goal, and the signatures are verified, the measure will be sent to state lawmakers for approval. If the Legislature does not vote on the question, supporters must return to the streets to gather another nearly 12,500 signatures by July 2026 to place it on the ballot in November.

The group No One Leaves is serving as the main organizer for the four Western Massachusetts counties, and Jones, who was hired as a community organizer for the housing advocacy group, is serving as the point person for Hampden County to collect those signatures.

"We have at least a hundred volunteers out of Hampden County, and I am making sure everyone is on the same page and being supported," Jones said.

Before being hired by No One Leaves, Jones said he worked in sales and is taking a lot of those skills to the streets as he collects signatures in high-traffic areas, such as Springfield Union Station.

While a lot of the work is canvassing neighborhoods, Jones said volunteers plan to collect signatures in the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside near the Target entrance between noon and 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. People also can email him at tyler@springfieldnooneleaves.org if they have questions or want to sign the petition.

"I find that I do explain the issue a lot. People think that we already have rent control," Jones said. "I tell them, as a tenant, you should have protections."

Many of his conversations are simply about educating people on the details of the question.

"It is not your uncle who rents out his first floor who is going to be affected," he said. "It is about the corporations."

The proposed question will limit rent increases to 5% annually, but it will not apply to buildings that are owner-occupied and have fewer than four units.

Jones said he thinks the ballot question is balanced, because it still allows landlords to raise rents to pay for increased costs of maintenance and taxes.

What it's really about is the corporate landlords, some like his, who do not live in the town — or state — where their property is located and are renting apartments as a business, Jones said.

One of the reasons Jones said he believes in the cause is — as a renter who pays $1,200 for his one-bedroom in Springfield — he knows that he couldn't afford a rent hike of $100.

The problem with having corporate landlords is there isn't much room for negotiations for tenants. Those who live in owner-occupied apartments where they see their landlords all the time and have a good relationship with them have more opportunities to work out a deal, he said. As more and more corporations are buying properties in Western Massachusetts, people are less likely to have an opportunity to build those relationships, he said.

When Jones first moved into his apartment, he said his neighbors, some of whom had lived there for more than a decade, complained about a lack of maintenance and other problems. He decided to try to do something about it and started researching how to form a tenants' association.

That is how he found No One Leaves. Staff helped him and other tenants through the process. While Jones said he knows people could have moved out, many had been there for years and didn't want to leave their homes.

"It has been 100% better since them. Maintenance staff started addressing issues people had been complaining about since 2017," he said.

While rent control will not solve the housing shortage, it is a measure that will help until more housing can be built, said Katie Talbot, organizing director of No One Leaves.

To date, the organization has gathered some 3,200 signatures. With one of the requirements being that a percentage of signatures must come from voters in each county, No One Leaves is focusing on gathering support from the four western counties, she said.

"It is not the answer to the housing crisis, but it is a piece of the puzzle," Talbot said.

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