Join Mass Union, Legal Aid, and trainer Todd Fry for a two-part webinar series about negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with your Local Housing Authority.
- Both sessions will take place over Zoom (link provided after you register)
- Spanish interpretation will be offered
Public housing tenant organizations in Massachusetts have a right to organize, be heard, and participate in matters affecting tenants. These rights can be made much stronger if a tenant organization sits down with housing authority staff and negotiates an agreement called a Memorandum of Understanding (or MOU) or a Memorandum of Agreement (or MOA).
MOUs can be powerful tools for tenant groups. They can open up better communications between tenants and housing authorities. They can provide access to resources to help strengthen tenant organizations. And, most importantly, they can provide tenant groups with a place at the table to work with the housing authority on issues of concern.
And yesterday, hot off the press, we posted the updated Memorandum of Understanding Know Your Rights Booklet to pair with the webinar. Please share with others.
Many thanks for their invaluable contributions to: Susan Hegel, Sarah Byrnes, Mac McCreight, Mary Lu Mendonca and Cecelia Rosenman, Northeastern University Law School at MLRI this summer
Session 1: Know Your MOU Rights – with Legal Aid
June 16, 2026, 10:30am – 11:30am
Session 1 will feature two legal experts — Annette Duke from Mass Law Reform Institute, and Susan Hegel from Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services, as well as a tenant group who has already negotiated a successful MOU. Annette, Susan and tenant leaders will explain what an MOU usually covers, your rights to negotiate, what recourse you have if a housing authority refuses to negotiate, and highlights from a sample MOU.
Session 2: Negotiation Skills with Todd Fry
July 9, 2026, 11am – 1pm
Now that you know the regulations about what your MOU can cover, learn ways to negotiate a strong agreement with your LHA. In an interactive style, we will walk through strategies, skills, and some practical tips to help you achieve the MOU that tenants in your community want.