Specifications include, but are not limited to: The City seeks proposals to provide high quality tenant outreach and education services to ensure that Somerville tenants understand their rights and responsibilities, and understand their options for responding to violations of those rights and other threats to their housing stability. Many tenants don't realize that a landlord's request that they vacate their apartment, by itself, does not have the weight of law; that they have legal recourse to substandard living conditions in their apartment; or that there are legal protections against landlord reprisals in response to efforts by tenants to redress violations of the Mass. Sanitary Code or to otherwise assert their tenancy rights.As discussed in the Somerville Office of Housing Stability (hereinafter OHS) Business Plan, tenant education and organizing, incombination with legal representation and city advocacy and services, can work synergistically to leverage constructive landlord engagement in discussions to remedy and redress violations of tenants' rights and threats to housing stability. Although real estate speculation and other market forces will continue to fuel displacement, tenant education and organizing can help residents gain the knowledge and power to assert their rights. In addition, it is our hope that a tenant educator/organizer in collaboration with OHS and a legal services provider might jointly be well positioned to obtain win/win solutions to housing instability such as encouraging sale of a building that is going on the market to an area affordable housing developer. Other cities are identifying grassroots organizing as an important component of housing stability. For example, the City of Boston provides funding for the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, which in turn provides funding to various tenant organizing initiatives which both prevent displacement and empower low income residents. All-In-Cities, a nationwide coalition of groups seeking new tools to prevent displacement and empower residents, has highlighted the importance of strategies that increase the political voice and power of impacted communities in decision making.
