Tenant Empowerment Act

In July 2022, Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and Maxine Waters introduced The Tenant Empowerment Act alongside tenants across the country! The proposed bill would empower Project Based Section 8 tenants to improve their homes as partners with HUD in various ways.

More specifically, it would:

• Extend Rent Withholding and Repair and Deduct rights to Section 8 tenants nationwide;
• Require HUD to match tenants' rent withholding in properties that have failed HUD inspections;
• Allow tenants and communities to trigger HUD inspections;
• Allow tenants to accompany and meet with HUD inspectors;
• Provide Access to Information and Third Party Enforcement Rights;
• Extend Right to Organize protections to Project Based Voucher tenants;
• Provide funds for tenant organizing;
• and much more!

Since the bill has not been passed, Pressley, Tlaib, and Waters have refiled in June 2024.

Read the full bill text here and summary here.

Tenants' Right to Organize Act

On October 3, 2023 Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) filed the Right to Organize Act, with nine co-sponsors!! The bill would extend an enforceable Right to Organize, modeled on 24 CFR Part 245, to Voucher and LIHTC tenants, and provide Section 514 organizing money to locally based coalitions to organize the unorganized tenants in their communities.  

Specifically, the bill does the following:
● Codifies tenants’ right to organize and participate in resident organizations in HCV and LIHTC
housing accommodations.
● Protects organizing activities such as distributing leaflets, conducting door-to-door surveys,
posting information on bulletin boards, participating in tenant organization meetings, and other
reasonable activities.
● Provides for enforcement by the HUD Secretary and Treasury Secretary relating to the HCV and
LIHTC programs, respectively, and authorizes appropriations in such sums necessary for
enforcement.
● Expands funding for tenant participation and capacity building to apply to low-income housing
for which project-based rental assistance, public housing subsidies, low-income housing tax
credits, Federal or State subsidized loans, and vouchers are provided or proposed.

Read Representative Ramirez’s full press release at: https://tinyurl.com/yvf5fms6

Read a one-pager on the bill at: https://tinyurl.com/yckh3h74