Tenant Association

c/o City Life or other organization???,  one of the tenant members???

 

                                                                                                Date

Landlord’s name

Landlord’s address

 

Dear Landlord:

 

            We are families who make our homes at xxxxx St., a building you own in the Mission Hill section of Boston.  With the help of City Life/Vida Urbana, we have formed a Tenant Association.

You are currently seeking evictions against many families who live in your building because you want an increase in rent.  All the families affected so far are Sec. 8.  Since you are evicting these families because you say the BHA will not pay the increase you desire, we understand your goal is to evict all Sec. 8 tenants in the building.  That’s about 25 families out of 34 apartments!  There are also some other families receiving very large rent increases of $300-$400!  We are asking you to reconsider these evictions and rent increases and begin negotiations with our Tenant Association.

As you know, many of us have lived on xxxxx St. for years.

Ø      Our children go to school here.  We don’t want to disrupt their schooling.

Ø      We have helped create a safe neighborhood here.  We don’t want to be pushed out of it.

            We are part of the Mission Hill community.  Some of our families lived on Mission Hill long before we moved to xxxxxx St.  We have made valuable community connections here – with stores, agencies, neighbors.  The mass evictions you are planning would not only take away our homes; it would also remove us from our community and take away an important part of Mission Hill.

We understand that you are in business to make as much money as you can.  But there has to be a balance between the increased profits you seek and our right to live in our homes.

Like everyone, we want our homes to be affordable and secure for the long term.  This is a simple and just goal.  We urge you to end your attempts to evict our members and to begin to talk with us about how to achieve this goal. You can reach the Tenant Association at the address above or at tenant numbers listed below.

 

                                                                                                Sincerely,

 

Signed by all interested with building and apartment #’s

 

cc.        City Life//Vida Urbana

            Landlord’s attorney

            Our attorney if one exists

            Community, religious and political leaders for the relevant neighborhood

                        Or leaders of organizations with which tenants are affiliated