Call to Action: Donate to SPOA Now to Resist Rent Control Ballot Initiative
Dear SPOA Members and Supporters:
We need your help to stop the latest — and most radical — RENT CONTROL proposal that is heading to the ballot box. The organization, Homes For All Massachusetts, is working to obtain signatures to reinstate rent control in Massachusetts after voters banned the policy in 1994.
However, unlike the previous state law, this version does not create a local option for rent control, but mandates rent control in every one of our state's 351 cities and towns. If anything is certain in real estate markets, one size does not fit all!
The proposed law caps annual rent increases at 5 percent or the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is lower. Only once over the past decade has CPI exceeded 5 percent, with the average increase from 2005 to 2024 just 2.57 percent. The proposed cap offers no appeal process and does not account for sharp increases in maintenance costs, property taxes, or insurance premiums, which together would nearly always amount to more than the allowed increase.
The measure would also stunt new housing production. Developers plan on the longer term. Knowing that rent caps will apply after ten years makes projects harder to finance, which means fewer homes get built. It also means that rent prices will continue to rise for tenants, while operating costs rise for property owners.
They say that insanity involves repeating a failed idea over again and expecting a different result. But what do you call it when the failed idea is taken to new extremes by radicals who willfully turn their backs to the truth?
Therefore, we are asking you to make a donation to SPOA — one larger than the $100 annual dues. Please consider donating one of the following amounts:
$500 $800 $1,000 $2,000 $5,000
We know that rent control made it difficult for property owners to collect their hard-earned rental income, and led to the disrepair of existing housing stock. It also made it more difficult for owners to remove noncompliant tenants from their properties for nonpayment, vandalism, and other contract breaches. This harmed not only the owners and their properties, but all the cooperative tenants who depended on their housing providers for safe, maintained living places.
Beyond Massachusetts, rent control has failed wherever it has been implemented — distorting housing markets, discouraging property investments, reducing the availability of rental units, and ultimately failing to address the root causes of housing affordability.
Shortly after rent control was implemented in St. Paul, Minnesota, as just one example, the migration of people and businesses to neighboring Minneapolis saw lower rents and more housing options in free-market Minneapolis, contrasting the rising rents and reduced housing availability in rent-controlled St. Paul — in what has truly been a tale of two cities. Only within a matter of months, the Mayor of St. Paul sought to walk back rent control after witnessing its damaging effects on the city. But after two years, efforts to walk back rent control have not been successful, which tells us that once the policy is implemented, it is very difficult to reverse!
As concerned small property owners, we cannot afford to sit idly by while our investments and the communities we serve are put at risk. As tenants struggle with rising rental prices, we should remind people that prices have gone up for everyone, including property owners who shoulder the rising costs of operating and maintaining property. This is due to a confluence of different factors, including strict zoning restrictions, imposed by government, for which property owners are not to blame.
Although rent control supporters claim that any criticism of rent control amounts to “fear mongering,” rent control itself is a political scam based on the politics of resentment directed at property owners, blaming us for a problem politicians don’t know how to solve. Tenant activists reject the facts about rent control due to their predatory thirst for control of the housing industry, rather than a genuine desire to solve the housing dilemma for everyone.
Therefore, we must unite and take a stand against rent control, advocating for better solutions that promote sustainable growth and affordable housing without stifling our rights as property owners. We play a vital role in sustaining our communities and the growth of other industries that depend upon us — from the tradespeople and materials suppliers to the banking, brokerage, and insurance industries, among others.
The real answer is that our local, state, and federal government must step up to build low-income housing, legislate incentives for private entities to build affordable housing, and grow rental aid for those in need.
Our mission at the Small Property Owners Association has always been to advocate for fair and equitable housing policies that support both property owners and tenants. We firmly believe that the best way to foster thriving communities is through collaboration and balanced regulations that encourage investment and growth.
To effectively combat rent control, we are launching a fundraising campaign to bolster our efforts in raising awareness about the negative impacts of rent control and lobbying for alternative housing policies that work for both property owners and tenants.
Your support is invaluable to our cause. By contributing to our fundraising efforts, you will help us engage in critical activities such as:
Public Awareness Campaigns: We will spread the message about the adverse effects of rent control through media campaigns, community events, and educational materials, informing the public and policymakers about the importance of preserving a fair and balanced housing market.
Advocacy and Lobbying: We will work tirelessly to represent our interests at the legislative level, engaging with policymakers to promote alternative housing policies that genuinely address housing affordability issues, while safeguarding our rights as property owners.
Legal Resources: In case rent control legislation is proposed, we will ensure that we have the necessary legal resources to challenge it in court if it violates our constitutional rights as property owners.
We don't have a large budget, as we are running on the shoestring. We need to ensure that we have boots on the ground, and that our content continues to reach the public.
Along with fighting the rent control ballot initiative, we remain bombarded by other proposals that threaten property rights on Beacon Hill, including other versions of rent control, as well as tenant right of first refusal, tenant credit check restrictions, more transfer taxes, and additional fines and penalties against property owners that make doing business untenable in Massachusetts. Our future success depends on our ability to remain in the thick of the fight with our experienced lobbying team on the ground, helping us and our members attend countless meetings and hearings — communicating with our legislators to advance our cause.
As always, we have continued to update you about pending legislation through our regular email updates. In addition, we keep bringing you monthly newsletters and more episodes of our podcast, SPOA Housing Policy Series, in which we discuss important housing issues with a variety of panelists, including small property owners, attorneys, real estate experts and advocates, government officials, people running for office, and news media reporters.
We also continue to give interviews and to have our own articles published in the media.
These efforts are challenging, and they should not be taken for granted. Clearly, our volunteers are dedicated. They provide quality work for free that would otherwise be expensive if outsourced to others. Moreover, our volunteers put in long hours away from their businesses and their families, fighting hard to protect the dignity of all our constituents, including people whom they have never even met. As they fight hard for you, they can’t succeed in their important work without your help and participation.
Together, we can make a real difference to save Massachusetts and protect our investments, our communities, and the future of housing in our state. Please consider contributing generously to our fundraising campaign. Every dollar counts and brings us closer to our goal of a fair and sustainable housing market.
To contribute, you can visit our website, www.spoa.com/join, or send your donations to 840 Summer St, Boston, MA 02127.
Additionally, we are open to discussing sponsorship opportunities for those willing to make a substantial impact on our advocacy efforts.
Let's stand together, united against rent control, and pave the way for a brighter future for property owners and tenants alike.
Sincerely,
Allison Drescher
President, SPOA
Amir Shahsavari
Vice President, SPOA
P.S. Please remember to donate generously to our campaign by considering one of the following amounts:
$500 $800 $1,000 $2,000 $5,000
Our property rights and the strength and safety of our communities depend on your financial support. Please stand with us today!
In addition, if you happen to see rent control supporters obtaining signatures in public, please email us with the location at askspoa@gmail.com
Thanks to our friends at the Greater Boston Real Estate Board for contributing information in this letter in their collaboration with the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and the Commercial Real Estate Development Association.
by Amir Shahsavari and Allison Drescher
