“Keep Massachusetts Home” Ballot Campaign Collects 124,000 Signatures in Strong Show of Grassroots Support for Rent Control
BOSTON — The proposed ballot initiative that would limit annual rent increases to no more than 5% hit a major milestone today on its way to the November 2026 statewide ballot. And it’s the result of a massive grassroots effort that produced signatures from every county in the state.
Supporters of the ‘Keep Massachusetts Home’ campaign today announced that they have collected more than 124,000 signatures from voters across the state, more than enough to qualify the modern rent stabilization ballot initiative for the ballot.
“Over the past few months, thousands of renters and homeowners across the state stood outside grocery stores and shopping malls, spoke to neighbors at soccer games and school dropoffs, and organized their communities to sign for rent control — because we believe that everyone in Massachusetts should be able to afford a place to call home,” said Rose Webster-Smith, Director of Springfield No One Leaves. “Everywhere we went, we heard about how high rents are displacing workers and seniors from our communities, forcing people to work multiple jobs just to pay the rent, and making it impossible for young families to save money to achieve the dream of owning a home. By coming together to win rent control on the ballot next year, we can keep Massachusetts home for all of us.”
Tomorrow is the deadline for ballot signatures to be filed with local election officials for certification. In order for ballot initiatives to move forward, at least 74,574 certified signatures must be submitted to the Secretary of State’s office by Wednesday, December 3. Supporters of the rent stabilization ballot initiative collected more than 124,000 signatures, in what supporters called this year’s largest grassroots ballot signature gathering campaign.
“We achieved our goals through the hard work of grassroots rent control supporters, not by paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to professional signature gathering firms. That speaks to the strong support for rent stabilization that exists all across Massachusetts, and it’s exactly how we’ll take on the corporate real estate investors who are driving up housing costs across Massachusetts to increase their profits,” said Noemi “Mimi” Ramos, Executive Director of New England Community Project. “We know that corporate real estate lobbyists will say anything to protect their ability to double rents overnight, and we’ve already had tens of thousands of conversations with voters across the state to get ahead of their misinformation, and talk about how rent stabilization will stabilize our communities, protect our essential workers, and keep rent costs reasonable and predictable so that renters can save and have a fair shot at the dream of owning a home.”
“Over the past few months, I’ve talked to hundreds of my neighbors as I collected signatures. I heard horror stories of landlords raising the rent by hundreds of dollars overnight, corporate real estate investors buying up homes, and families being forced out of their neighborhoods,” said Patty Ford, a campaign volunteer from Lynn. “We need rent control to ensure that everyone can afford to live in Massachusetts. It’s time to put our families ahead of corporate real estate investors and their search for endless profits.
“I’ve put in hours of my time collecting signatures for the Keep Mass Home campaign because rent is way too high, and we need to do something about it,” said Sandra Ramgeet, a campaign volunteer from Boston. “In the richest state in the most powerful country in the world, how is it possible that some people are forced to choose between paying rent or buying groceries? No one should be homeless because their landlord doubled their rent overnight, and everyone deserves a place to call home.”
The ballot initiative, An Initiative Petition to Protect Tenants by Limiting Rent Increases, would limit annual rent increases in Massachusetts to the cost of living, with a cap at 5%. For an apartment that costs $2,000 per month, that means an annual increase in monthly rent of no more than $100/month.
The limit on rent increases would continue to apply when new renters move in, meaning rent could not be drastically increased between tenants. The ballot initiative would support small landlords, not big corporations, by exempting owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units. And it would encourage housing production and economic growth by applying rent limits to new construction only after a building’s first 10 years.