Letter from the Executive Director for December 2024: A Judge Agreed
In November we worked hard to keep our organization current. In this letter, we’ll review our new and improving training videos, office hours, the impact of inflation (and our response) and a big success in court.
As discussed previously, events are changing. We all expect to find our information online nowadays. This is why we have been recording and publishing our PowerPoint repertoire into a set of videos. Each new video is improved from the last. We have always had videos, but we have to conclude that this new format is working better. In a typical week this spring, we logged approximately 25 views across all our video content. Now a typical week is getting 100 views. Eviction sealing has had 42 views per week. Deleading has had 29 views per week. Security deposits has had 33 views per week. And unlike Zooms, which are one-and-done, this content library remains up for you to watch when you need it.
Live help is still available with our office hours. We have Peter Shapiro on the second Wednesday, Attorney Greenman on the third Wednesday, and I am available on the first Friday of each month.
We launched “price per unit” in late 2021, since which time inflation has been 16% total. We’ve been forthright in giving inflation adjustments to the team, taking into account individual merit as well as foreign exchange rate. We adjusted our dues prices per inflation for new members. Existing members on automatic renewal will not be adjusted as long as autorenew works.
In order to better align dues collection with landlord revenue, we will be releasing an option to pay dues monthly. I’ve seen the first implementation on our test server. I expect it will be available sometime this winter.
In this edition we share our press release about Nov. 15, which was a really thrilling court day for us. We’ve been in litigation for years with Boston over the origins of the rent stabilization advisory committee (RSAC). Now we’ve reached the judge, and he agreed that we should be able to see the documents we’ve requested. This case is of strategic importance for us in leveling the playing field by reducing the influence of money in politics. Good policy needs a lot of diverse and disagreeing voices at the table. The RSAC was not this, and we’ll prove it yet.
Thank you for supporting our mission to create better rental housing. We've got your back only because you've got ours. Please join as a member, encourage others to join, become a property rights supporter or increase your level of support. We aim to hire both a full-time educator and policy advocate.
Sincerely,
Douglas Quattrochi
Executive Director
MassLandlords, Inc.
