Leaders should ‘walk and talk’ with neighbors, rent control supporters say

When Patty Ford’s rent rose by hundreds of dollars several times over the last four years in Lynn, where she has lived her whole life, she was nearly evicted.

Ford says a cap on rent increases across Massachusetts will help stabilize rent and keep housing affordable for tenants like her. And organizers behind a rent control policy that could hit the ballot in 2026 say the 124,000 raw signatures they gathered from across the state prove how much Massachusetts voters agree.

“We are talking about a 21st-century rent control. This is not the same rent control that we had many, many decades ago. It’s an opportunity to think about protections, not only around caps, but also how we are protecting and supporting small landlords,” New England Community Project (NECP) Executive Director Noemi Ramo