How Oakland Tenants Forced Their Landlord to Turn Over the Keys

The 2016 exemption to Ventura County's strict farmland protection laws has enabled the development of nearly 700 affordable housing units for farmworkers. These rent-controlled apartments on former agricultural land provide stable housing regardless of immigration status.

Union’s auxiliary members and miners’ wives work to support the miners on strike from Warrior Met Coal in Alabama by running a strike pantry, collecting donations, and planning strike activities and marches. In some cases, wives agreed to be arrested in the name of the cause. The bonds they’ve formed throughout the process are what keep them going.

Housing activists have been living in an abandoned building — Prestes Maia — since 2002. Through their years of activism, occupying the space and working to make the 22-story high-rise livable Prestes Maia is being transformed into social housing for the families that have been living there for the past several years.

Renters' unions in the United Kingdom have provided more aide recently because the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated problems facing renters. The Association of Community Organisations for Reform Now is one of the largest renters’ unions in the UK and has been helping members fight illegal evictions and stop landlords from breaking lockdown rules. The group fears a “glut of evictions” when the government lifts restrictions. There are many renters’ unions in the UK, which might dilute their effectiveness, and the combined membership in the thousands is just a small fraction of Britain’s 4.5 million renters.

The Squamish Nation is building Senakw, a 6,000-unit, 11-tower residential development on 10 acres of ancestral land returned to them in Vancouver, one of North America's least affordable cities. Freed from the city's restrictive zoning and land-use laws, the Squamish completed the first three towers in 2025, putting 1,408 rental apartments on the market, including several hundred subsidized units for lower-income families. The first tenants moved in at the end of May, and the project has prompted Vancouver to begin loosening some of its own housing rules.

Market women in Iyana Ipaja organized street protests after failed letter-writing campaigns, which led to the traditional ruler (Baale) brokering a peace agreement that stopped the extortion by thugs claiming to act on behalf of a local strongman, though the traders acknowledge this relief may be temporary.

In response to two historic apartment buildings facing condemnation and displacing low-income tenants, property manager Tim Brewer conducted major renovations, implemented flexible rental policies, offered free laundry services, and built a supportive sense of community through regular gatherings and collaborative problem-solving. His efforts not only saved the apartment buildings but also improved residents' sense of safety and community engagement.

In 2008, ROC USA began helping form resident-owned mobile home communities, and since then has assisted in the creation of over 300 such communities in 21 states throughout the U.S, consisting of almost 22,000 homeowners throughout the U.S. The organization works with philanthropic organizations, other nonprofits, insurers, banks and government entities to raise commitments in advance of a park’s purchase.

KC Tenants is a tenant union that connects renters to put pressure on landlords and local government to protect tenant rights. With the help of the group’s political arm, KC Tenants Power, they have blocked thousands of evictions, received millions of dollars in funding to secure affordable housing for those in need and have grown to about 10,000 members. Outside of blocking evictions and securing long-term affordable housing, the group also has four members who won City Council seats.

Grove Park Renewal aims to help residents from the majority-black area of northwest Atlanta become homeowners by turning vacant properties into newly renovated, affordable homes. The nonprofit also offers an affordable rental program that allows qualifying individuals and families to live in one of its properties at a more affordable, income-adjusted rate.