Preparing for the 2026 Rent Control Ballot Fight
by Amir Shahsavari
Thank you for supporting property rights, while promoting reasonable and balanced housing policy in 2025.
Please see the brief holiday message from newly elected SPOA President Amir Shahsavari, who closes 2025 by describing why your support is urgently needed against the rent control ballot initiative in 2026. Learn about the dangers of this policy, including the deceptive propaganda claiming that it is flexible and harmless when the opposite is actually true. Please join and support SPOA in 2026 to keep rent control in the past and to fight against other proposals that threaten renters, owners, and other businesses.
You can see the video in the link below.
by Amir Shahsavari
SPOA Continues to Make the Case Against Rent Control in the Media
by Allen Hebert
Since our previous newsletter, which featured SPOA's opposition to rent control in the press, we were covered again by reporter Crystal Yormick, whose article has been printed in several publications, including The New Bedford Light, The Worcester Guardian, and the Greenfield Recorder. SPOA President Amir Shahsavari and SPOA Vice President Tony Lopes make the case against the 2026 rent control ballot initiative, along with others on the same side of the argument.
by Allen Hebert
SPOA Returns in the News to Defend Against Wu's Renewed Tax Shift Proposal Threatening Boston and Other Communities
by Allison Drescher and Amir Shahsavari
The December 2025 news cycle saw the return of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu's controversial tax shift proposal after it was rejected by the Massachusetts Senate during the previous year.
SPOA remains deeply concerned about the effect this bill would have on small businesses in Boston and throughout Massachusetts, while eroding a key provision of Proposition 2 ½, which protects all of us from over-taxation.
Instead of trimming her budget for efficiency, Mayor Wu wants to impose a tax increase on Boston property owners when they can least afford it — especially owners in the commercial sector who have dealt with empty and struggling office buildings.
By exempting the tax safeguards established under Proposition 2 ½, other communities outside of Boston will likely rush to the legislature to ask for the same exemption. How soon will it be before Cambridge, Somerville, and other cities and towns demand the same deal? This poses a major threat to all property owners in our state, whether they own property in Boston or other parts of Massachusetts.
There is still time to make your voices heard, if you have not done so already. You can contact your state senators and representatives to express your concerns by using the following link:
SPOA's advocacy on this issue has also been covered by several news outlets, including but not limited to State House News Service, Boston Herald, The Boston Globe, WGBH News, and Masslive. You can find links to these news articles below.
This effort demonstrates our continued commitment to defend property rights in the press, in addition to our advocacy against rent control and other policy proposals that endanger small business owners and our communities. Please consider sending us a generous donation today so that we can continue fighting for the greater good, while bringing much needed balance to the discourse!
by Allison Drescher and Amir Shahsavari
Looking Back at 2025 in Video
by Amir Shahsavari
In 2025, SPOA appeared in a variety of video content to defend property rights. We continued our podcast, SPOA Housing Policy Series, for its third year, releasing nine additional episodes. Overall, these episodes covered:
Small property owners struggling with the eviction process and the need for eviction reform
Continued coverage of professional tenants exposed by an NBC 10 News reporter after cheating numerous property owners for over 20 years
The perils of security deposit regulations and tenant identity fraud in Massachusetts
The controversial broker bills
Services provided for property owners by the Volunteer Lawyers Project
Candidate forums with people running for governor, mayor, and city council
Earlier in the year, SPOA was featured on The Mike Urban Show discussing the housing debate. We further testified at state house hearings about rent control, TOPA (Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, also known as tenant right of first refusal), and rent escrow, while appearing on the news about rent control and the broker bills.
Our 2025 holiday message is also included.
You will find all these videos in commemoration of 2025 below.
SPOA HOUSING POLICY SERIES
OTHER PROGRAM APPEARANCES
The REAL Story Behind Massachusetts Real Estate with Mike Urban
by Amir Shahsavari