Guides & Toolkits
Find step-by-step guides, organizing toolkits, and ready-to-use sample letters to help you navigate housing issues and take collective action. These resources are designed to be easy to use, share, and adapt to your situation.
… and more!
These resources offer practical guidance for tenants facing housing challenges. You can download, print, and share them to help protect your rights and organize effectively.
Organizing Guides
Mass Legal Help’s guide to tenant organizing in Massachusetts
Explains why tenants in Massachusetts have more power when they join together and form a union or tenant association, outlining rights, tactics, and real examples of successful tenant campaigns. It makes clear that organizing with your neighbors — not facing issues alone — is often the most effective way to demand better conditions, push back against unfair treatment, and shift the balance of power with landlords.
Philadelphia Tenants Union Organizing Guide
The Philadelphia Tenants Union Organizing Guide is a practical, no-nonsense handbook written by tenant organizers for tenants, covering everything from one-on-one conversations and mapping your building to making demands and escalating collective action. It’s especially useful for renters who want to move from frustration to organized power, with concrete tools, sample letters, and hard-earned lessons about what actually works.
Tenant Letter Toolkit
This toolkit provides ready-to-use letter templates and guidance for tenants in Massachusetts. These letters are designed to help you protect your rights, document housing issues, and organize with your neighbors.
How to Use This Toolkit
- Always keep copies of letters you send
- When possible, send letters by certified mail, email with
read receipt, or another trackable method - Take photos and keep records to support your claims
- Fill in all bracketed sections before sending
- Contact the Easthampton Tenants Union if you need help
Checklists & Forms
MADE – Massachusetts Defense for Eviction
Massachusetts Defense for Eviction (MADE) is a free online self-guided resource from Greater Boston Legal Services that helps Massachusetts tenants generate the court forms and responses needed to defend against an eviction lawsuit. It walks you through the process step-by-step, offers reminders of important deadlines, and includes educational links to support you as you respond to your landlord in housing court.
UpToCode
UpToCode.org is a free online tool that helps Massachusetts tenants understand their rights under the State Sanitary Code and walk through what to do when their home has problems, from documenting issues to reporting them to a landlord, city inspector, or court. It makes it easier for tenants to organize, write letters, and take steps toward getting repairs or legal orders, all with clear step-by-step guidance.
Housing Code Checklist
The Massachusetts Housing Code Checklist is a free handbook that walks tenants through the key health and safety standards landlords must meet under state and local law. It’s a practical tool for documenting repairs, understanding code violations, and preparing evidence you can use when requesting repairs, reporting conditions, or organizing with your neighbors.
Downloadable Resources
Minimum Standards of Fitness for Human Habitation | 105 CMR: DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH
The State Sanitary Code, 105 CMR 410.000 sets the minimum standards of fitness for human habitation in Massachusetts, outlining what landlords are legally required to provide in terms of safety, heat, water, sanitation, and structural conditions. This official code is a key reference for tenants who want to understand their rights, document violations, and hold landlords accountable when conditions fall below basic health and safety standards.
Notice of Occupants’ Legal Rights and Responsibilities | Massachusetts Department of Public Health
An official Massachusetts guide that explains what tenants and occupants are entitled to under state law, including rights around habitability, leases, repairs, and evictions. It’s a clear, reliable reference for tenants who want to understand both their protections and their obligations, so they can advocate for themselves and their neighbors with confidence.
